Rakenzarn Tales
by Twilight Kyu
Summary: When Kyuu found a mysterious book in his house, it transported him to the storybook's world where all fictional characters are real. However, a dark secret threatens Kyuu forcing him to seek answers to save both worlds and his existence. MULTI-CROSSOVER
1. Chapter 0: Prologue part 1

Hi readers, welcome to the reboot of my Rakenzarn series: **Rakenzarn Tales**.  
First of all, I've decided to reboot this fic because I notice there are mistakes I've made in this fic. I'm not talking about one or two mistakes, oh no no no, I'm talking about _A LOT_ of mistakes.

I guess you can say that I was very young and inexperienced back then, but my passion for writing told me to correct my mistakes. However, in order to correct all my mistakes, I have to reboot the entire fic. Not to mention, I have tons of new, better ideas in mind for this fic.

To all my readers who have been with me for a long time, I really want to thank you all. No words can express how grateful I am for you guys.

Before we begin, I'll just to give away this note.  
This story takes place right after the ending of Detective School Q's manga, but I'll also include a few elements from the anime as well.

Now without further ado, let's start it!

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own some of characters in the story. The characters that will appear in this fic are owned by their respective owners. There will also be OCs that are owned by their respective authors.

-/-

_Reality_

_Fantasy_

_What is reality?_

_What is fantasy?_

_Those are two entirely different aspects.  
It depends on your perspective views on them._

_But no matter what people say, they would say they prefer Fantasy._

_For you see, Reality is harsh and painful.  
Everyday, many bad things bound to happen in one's life. Even after they had resolved that problem, another problem would occur repeatedly until the end of the day. Then the next day, the same thing would happen again._

_On the other hand, Fantasy is full of joy, life, and happiness. Even though they're not actually real.  
The most important part of Fantasy has to be 'entertainment.' People loved it, either it's music, films, and video games. _

_Fantasy always helps them forget about Reality._

_Sadly, they can't escape Reality._

_They have to return to Reality either they want to or not, where their suffering will begin anew._

_But what if Reality is exactly the same as Fantasy?_

_Part of the entertainment is real.  
Everything you have ever desired will always come true._

_They may think that it's impossible, but then again, none of them had seen this coming._

"_Fantasy becomes Reality  
And all we know about Reality soon come to an end…"_

_That is where the tale begins._

**000**

A boy…

Long ago, a boy lived at a certain neighborhood.

He was very young, about to be 4 year old.

One day, he went to the basement wanting to explore. His exploration led him to a particular book hidden beneath a small cardboard box. The little boy picked up the book and discovered a symbol of a long rod and a shield with some sort of angelic wings engraved on the book's cover.

He was about to open the book until his mother called him. The little boy placed the book into the cardboard box and left the basement…

**000**

Years later, the boy had grown older.

The boy with slightly tanned skin, greenish-gold eyes, and has an oddly hairstyle, Black-Green with White in-line. He wasn't that tall but wasn't small either, you could guess his height is about 161 cm. His outfit was a black jacket with a gray t-shirt underneath it. He also wore a pair of black trousers and white shoes.

A boy, with a certain 'destiny,' would have a terrifying time in his life…

Yet, at the same time, he would have a wonderful time in his life…

**000**

_Our hero of that story is Kyuu Renjo, age 16._

_He's rather an unusual protagonist._

_He's your typical teenage kid and seemingly immature for his age, but he's an ace kid detective from a detective academy. He can be mature if he's actually serious._

_One day, we begin to see him in a rather frightening phenomenon that eventually leads him to his struggle in an epic journey in the world of a certain 'storybook.' _

_Will he be able to overcome the hindrance in search for the thing called truth?_

_The answer lies within the chronicles that he will soon write down…_

_Now sit back…  
And enjoy the chronicles of the storybook…_

**Rakenzarn Tales**

**-/-**

…

_Wake up, Kyuu, we are waiting for you._

**-/-**

"Huh… What…"

Kyuu…  
An only child of a single parent, he is our main protagonist in this story…

We see from his point of view.  
He's currently at a street of the big city in his casual outfits, a red jacket (with the words 'USA' written on the upper left side) and a white t-shirt underneath it. The trouser he's wearing is grey.

It is afternoon, sunny to be exact.  
There's not even a cloud in the sky.

The street itself is quite crowded.  
The citizens cover up the sidewalks from both the east and west sides. Many cars speed all over the main roads.

Looking left and then to the right, Kyuu thought he has just heard someone calling his name. Strangely enough, there is no one who seems to be calling him. The folks around him only ignore the boy as they continue to walk to where they want to go.

Kyuu feels a bit disturbed until he shrugs it as an imagination in his mind.

Remembering that the time is almost 3 o'clock, Kyuu resumes walking to a certain place just across the street.

-Prologue part 1-  
-From the Real World-

Minutes have passed; Kyuu has finally reached the place.

The boy is now at a small, yet fashionable café.

There are not many people so most of the tables are empty though almost half of the empty tables are reserved for either later or tonight. The foods are good and the price is right. Just like any other restaurants, there's a TV placed above the counter.

Apparently, Kyuu is dating with one of his fellow classmates from Dan Detective School or DDS for short; she's the same age as the boy.

The girl has light skin and light pink eyes with pink, pigtails hairstyle.  
When they're both 15 year old, the girl was taller than Kyuu, but now Kyuu is a bit taller than the girl.  
Her casual outfit is a white and blue colored dress completed with a miniskirt.  
She has a unique talent known as a photographic memory, which allows her to memorize anything instantly.

Her name is **Megumi Minami**.  
Nicknamed 'Megu.'

It appears they both have the same dream since they've enrolled into the academy. They knew each other for a long time ever since they first met a year ago. She and Kyuu have begun to date for about three months. This is their fourth date of the month.

Now they're at their table near the entrance where they have a full view of the outside through the glass wall. They make their orders subsequently.

Shortly after, they strike a friendly conversation mostly about their experiences in the detective academy. Their conversation flows smoothly as they're enjoying their time together.

Through their conversation, Megu learns that Kyuu is currently living alone at his home. His mother is out of town on an important business trip only for two weeks. It's already been three days after she left.

"So… This is your first time living alone?" Megu asks.  
Her answer is Kyuu nodding with a smile.

"Everything's okay at home?" Megu asks again.  
"Hey, I'm not a kid, Megu. I can take care of myself," Kyuu optimistically said as he points his thumb beneath his chin.

"Really?" Megu raises her right eyebrow in suspicion, "What did you eat for dinner then?"  
Kyuu sheepishly chuckles and answers, "Instant noodles!"

"…You really are hopeless…" Megu sighs while glancing at an optimistic Kyuu.

From that moment, their meals have arrived.  
They happen to order the same meal: Tonkatsu curry.

Kyuu cheerfully says, "Itadakimasu!" and starts eating his food while Megu watches him finding his optimistic antiques rather amusing. The girl starts to eat hers afterwards.

Eating halfway, the optimistic boy suddenly stops eating when he feels that he's being watched. He turns his head around and finds no one, only people coming in and out of the restaurant. However, the boy still has an unpleasant feeling that someone is watching him, or more like the feeling that everyone is watching.

Megu notices Kyuu's uneasiness from the look of his face.  
"Kyuu? Is something wrong?" Megu calls catching Kyuu's attention. The boy turns back around glancing at her. "Is… Everything alright?" Megu asks in a calm tone but with a concerned look on her face.

"S-Sorry, I'm okay," Kyuu said in a gentle tone as he lowers his head.  
The DDS boy suddenly raises his head looking at the girl with the photographic memory, "I'm… Just a bit tired, that's all. Nothing to worry about."

"Okay then, if you say so," Megu said back though she's still concerned about him.

Megu then turns her attention to the window looking outside the café.  
"It's been a year since we've been in DDS, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Kyuu nods, "Is something up?"

"Well, it's just… My parents have been calling nee-chan and I for weeks, asking us how we've been doing."  
"Oh yeah, your parents are away from Japan."  
"They're worried about me. They know I've wanted to enroll to DDS, but…"

"Yeah, same like my mom," Kyuu agrees with Megu, "When I told her that I want to enroll to DDS, she wouldn't let me."

"You know," Kyuu points his index finger at Megu's dish, "Your food's gonna be cold if you don't start eating."

Megu chuckles timidly knowing that she hasn't even touch her meal.

**-/-**

Later that day, Kyuu returns home after his date with Megumi Minami.  
It's already late too since their date seems longer than he thought.

His home is entirely empty though it's still clean since he has been taking care of the house.

The house may be dim, there's still a glitter of light shining through the glass window.

Right after leaving his shoes by the entrance and locking the door, Kyuu makes his way into the living room turning on the lights once he gets there. As he steps into the living room, he would always shout, "Mom, I'm home!" but sadly, his mother isn't around. He does feel a bit lonely and even begin to miss her.

The house's interior is like other residences in Japan.  
The floor has the traditional tatami, a type of mat composed of compressed wood chipboards. Tables are placed throughout the living room, both the dining table and a small table. The house isn't complete without the modern Shōji doors, the type of door that slides left and right. In front of the small table, there's the television.

The atmosphere feels empty, probably because the boy is all alone at home.

Kyuu feels very exhausted all the sudden, so he decides to take a long, warm bath.

Minutes have passed, the boy feels much more relaxed right after taking a bath.  
He's currently in the hall in his casual clothes while drying his hair with a towel. He walks his way back to the living room.

As he reaches the living room's door placing his hand on the door, he suddenly stops on his trail.

There it is again… It's the same unpleasant feeling from the street and at the café.  
Kyuu has another feeling that someone is watching him, a sudden presence, to be exact.

He would want to turn around to see who is watching him, but he wouldn't dare. In fact, he is very afraid to turn around thinking that whoever, or whatever, is watching him might attack him by the time he turns his head around. He could enter the living room and quickly close the door behind him, but the result may be the same.

Kyuu stands there frozen in fear and sweats rapidly.  
The boy gulps.

Having finally decided what to do, Kyuu gathers enough courage to carry out his action.

Kyuu immediately slides the door open and quickly enters the living room dropping his towel in the process. Without even looking back, Kyuu turns his arm around his back reaching the Shōji door and slides it close.

Afterwards, the boy turns around.  
Strangely enough, the strange presence is gone all the sudden.

Coated in his cold sweats, Kyuu clears his sweats from his forehead and starts to feel calm again. He slides open the door and finds that the hall is completely empty.

"_What… What was that just now?"_ Kyuu wonders as he moves into the hall and looks around the hall. There's no one in the hall…

The boy begins to feel even more anxious as he slowly closes the door. He turns around facing away from the door.

As he leans his back on the door, Kyuu's expression immediately changes into a fearful look.  
_"What the hell's wrong with me?"_ Kyuu clutches his hands on his head, _"Am I going mad? Paranoid?"_

Suddenly, the telephone rings.  
The sudden ringing startles the boy causing him to jump in surprise. As soon as he finally calms down, the boy moves toward the phone that's placed exactly at the dining table.

Kyuu quickly picks up the telephone and utters, "Hello."

To his surprise and relief, it's his mother calling.

The young boy is very glad that he can hear his mother's voice once again.

"_Kyuu, are you okay? How have you been doing?_"  
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine, Mom. I've just got back."

"_Have you locked all the doors?_"  
"Yeah, I've already locked the doors…"

"_Oh, good. Are you okay? You don't sound so good._"  
"No, no, I'm fine… I'm just a little tired, that's all."

"_What time did you sleep last night, Kyuu? Don't tell me you've been watching that detective marathon the entire night while I'm away._"  
"Oh, no, no, no, I'm not, Mom. I'd never stayed up that late."

"_Good, I'm glad to hear that. Listen, I'm sorry that I had to go all the sudden._"_  
_"It's okay, I know it's urgent, I understand. It's only for two weeks, right?"

"_Just take care yourself, okay?_"

"_Oh, I almost forgot! Kyuu, I forgot to bring this old portfolio with me. Can you take it to Hideo-san?_"  
"Oh, sure. I'll get it deliver to him first in the morning. So where is it?"

"_I left it in the basement. It's on the shelf in the left corner._"  
"The basement? Sure, I'll go get it."

From that moment, Kyuu glances at the door leading to the hall. There is the basement's door across the hall passing the staircase on the left.

Kyuu really wants to talk with his mother a bit longer, but his mother has to go right away.

"_I'm really sorry I have to go now, but I promise you, I'll call you again tomorrow night. You take care yourself, okay?_  
"Okay, Mom. Take care too."

After a brief conversation, his mother hangs up the phone.  
Now the boy feels much calmer though he can't get the strange occurrence he had just experienced. He immediately decides to shrug it off dismissing it as an imagination figuratively playing tricks in his head.

"_Well, better get that portfolio now,"_ Kyuu quickly picks up his towel and places it on the chair that's placed next to the dining table. He may want to dry his hair right away but decides to get the portfolio first. Otherwise, he may forget to get the portfolio.

He makes his way through the hall and reaches the basement's door.

Standing in front of the door, Kyuu begins to recall his past when he was very young. He went into the basement before but not for long. Now the DDS boy is curious to see the basement after all these years.

The boy slides the door open and sees a set of descending staircases. He then walks down the stairs.

Kyuu arrives at the basement.  
It hasn't changed that much from years ago with little changes. It's dustier than ever as if this place has not been used for years. The cardboard boxes are still in their places though covered in dusts. The old furniture is there as well but covered in white sheets to keep the dusts away.

Remembering what his mother had said, Kyuu makes his way to the left corner where he finds three identical shelves. Luckily, he stumbles at the right shelf where the portfolio is. _"Huh, what's Mom doing here in this basement? And why did she leave it here?"_ Kyuu wonders as he picks up the portfolio, which is still clean.

As he walks his way back, he suddenly stops when he suddenly hears a noise. The noise is quite vague, it sounds like a bell ringing for a brief moment of time and it suddenly stop in dead silence. He turns to his left and sees a lone, dusty cardboard box placed in front of a bookshelf.

Upon staring at the cardboard box, something within the DDS boy tells him to open it.

He gives in to his curiosity as he bends down moving closer to the cardboard box while placing the portfolio on the floor next to him.

Thankfully, he has a handkerchief in his pocket. He brushes off the dusts from the box and opens it. Inside, there are tons of old things such as some old books and portable devices that aren't useful anymore. The very thing that catches the boy's attention is a certain book at the top of those antiques. Other than that, Kyuu notices that the book looks somehow familiar by its cover.

As he picks it up, the boy cleans the book and glances at the book.

"…_Hey, wait a sec…"_ Kyuu raises both his eyebrows when he finally remembers this book.

The book's cover shows a symbol of a long rod and a shield with some sort of angelic wings. Atop of the symbol, there is the book's title.

'_Rakenzarn Tales'_

Kyuu remembers this is the book that he found when he was very young.

Unfortunately, he did not have the time to open the book during that time.

Now that he's older and have free time, he decides to see inside.  
Is this a storybook, he wonders? Well, from the looks of the cover, it is a storybook after all.

As soon as he opens the book, a bright light suddenly shines within!  
Kyuu yelps out of surprise as he leans backward dropping the book in the process. The bright light then disappears for a brief moment.

Strangely enough, the light is very bright that it supposed to blind someone, but it doesn't seem to blind the young boy.

"_What… The heck was that just now?"_ Kyuu is very anxious yet again. First, the strange feeling that he's being watched and now this book.

He starts to sweat rapidly again with a spooked expression written on his face.

A few moment of silence takes place until Kyuu calms down a bit.  
The boy touches his chest first before the rest of his body noticing that he's fine. As for his eyes, they are completely fine.

The 16 year old boy then approaches the book on the floor and he picks it up.  
"What the heck's this?" Kyuu thought to himself as he opens the book again.

Strangely enough, the words in each page are not in Japanese or even in English. It's more of a strange language that Kyuu hasn't seen before. The language appears to be some sort of combination of Latin and Dutch. Kyuu flips the pages one by one. Many of the pages aren't all in text as there are some illustrations in it. Well, for some pages.

However, the illustrations are incredibly blurred that it's hard to make out what's in the picture.

There is another thing that also catches Kyuu's attention: many of the pages are completely blank.

Kyuu stares at the book wondering about this mysterious book…

**-/-**

The next day, Kyuu has already sent the portfolio to a man named Hideo, one of his mother's friends at work, and soon departs to Dan Detective School.

That particular school is founded and owned by Morihiko Dan, the most famous detective in Japan whose ties with the police is very strong.

The main facility is exactly what people would imagine.  
It's quite big and clean, probably too big that it looks like an academy rather than a school. Since DDS is obviously educating people to become detectives, they include various materials to teach the students about investigation in crime scenes and identify the cause of deaths.

For the students, there aren't too many of them since this is a special school. Only a few people can enter this prestigious school only to be trained to be incredible detectives. Kyuu and Megumi are part of those students.

Like most schools, they have classes.

Kyuu and Megumi are assigned to Class Q, which is supposedly the top class and worthy successors to the legendary detective himself.

While most classes are within the main facility, Class Q's is an old house in the woods located outside the facility.

It's ten o'clock in the morning.

The students are now in a large classroom. Their next lesson is distinguishing between suicide by hanging and murder by strangulation.

Among the students, there's Kyuu.  
Sitting next to the boy on the left is Megumi.

Kyuu isn't in his usual self due to the abnormal occurrences that happened yesterday, especially thrice in a day if you include the events where the boy has a feeling that's being watched. The thing that really bothers him is the mysterious book that he found at the basement of his house. No matter how hard he tries, he simply can't get the events out of his mind.

As the lesson goes on, Kyuu isn't able to focus on the lesson well. His mind just won't let him. The boy continues to ponder over the book. He is clearly focused on that book more from the look of his face, a blank, yet serious expression to be exact. He's not even looking at the teacher in front of the class, rather he's staring at the board.

Megumi Minami eventually notices that Kyuu doesn't seem okay.  
She quietly calls him by his name, but the boy doesn't respond at all.

Sitting next to Kyuu on the right is a certain young man who appears to be 18 year old with ponytailed hair and slanted eyes. Since he's older than Kyuu and Megu, he is much taller than them. His physical appearance appears to be athletic and, fitting his appearance, he is an expert in Kendo, Judo, and Karate making him a very strong opponent.

His name is _**Kintaro Toyama**_.  
Nicknamed 'Kinta.'

The young man, who's also a classmate with Kyuu and Megu, notices that Megu is quietly calling for Kyuu but doesn't respond. Kinta notices the expression in Kyuu's face and begins to share the same feeling with Megumi.

"Hey, Kyuu," Kinta also calls for Kyuu, but the result is still the same.  
After quietly calling for about five times, Kinta decides to make a different approach by pinching the boy's cheek. This time, it actually works; it snaps Kyuu back to reality.

Kyuu yelps though in a lower voice making sure he doesn't disturb the lecture.  
"W-What? Kinta, what is it?" Kyuu turns his head toward the young man, "I'm supposed to ask you that," Kinta said back.

Megu calls Kyuu again catching his attention to her.  
"Kyuu, are you okay? Is something in your mind?" Megu asks with a concern look on her face.

"Oh… Sorry…" Kyuu mutters silently with a seemingly sad tone, "It's just… It's really complicated; I don't even know where to begin…"

"Complicated? How complicated?" Kinta asks as Kyuu turns his head toward the teacher in the front.  
"Complicated enough that I don't know how to explain it," Kyuu answers.

Both Megu and Kinta glance Kyuu wondering if he's really okay.

Sitting next to Kinta is a little boy who appears to be 10 years old wearing glasses and a hat that has an 'N' signature on it. Fitting his appearance, the boy is quite a computer expert, mostly a game programmer.

The little boy's name is _**Kazuma Narusawa**_.

Kazuma immediately notices Kinta talking to Kyuu and after seeing the 16-year-old boy's face, the computer programmer notices Kyuu doesn't seem well.

"Kinta, what's wrong with Kyuu-san?" Kazuma whispers at Kinta.  
"Dunno," Kinta whispers back while glancing at a worried Kyuu.

**-/-**

12:00 PM

Classes' next session starts now.

Thus, Class Q returns to their class at the old house just outside the facility.

The classroom is one of the rooms of the old building with five separate desks, the teacher's very own table, and a chalkboard in the front next to the teacher's table. The class' door is wide open. Kyuu is already there alone waiting for the rest of his friends and his teacher to arrive.

Since he's all alone right now, he decides to take something out of his backpack. Kyuu takes out the mysterious book and places it on his desk.

Kyuu stares at the mysterious book continuing to wonder what this book really is.

After staring at the book's cover for about a minute, Kyuu flips open the book once again. The DDS boy begins to read the book thinking that there might be some sort of clues hidden within the strange language.

Page by page, the boy continues his search for answers in this book. All the sudden, he stops flipping the pages. An unpleasant feeling fills the atmosphere once again, which always happens whenever Kyuu feels that he's being watched. Unfortunately, it's much stronger than before that the boy actually feels a presence in this room. It gets even worse when the lone boy feels that someone is right in front of the teacher's desk…

"_Not again… Why now?"_

Continuing to stare down at the book on his desk, Kyuu refuses to lift his head and look to the front. His heart beats much faster and a single sweat flows through his cheek.

He eventually decides to lift his head slowly until his eyes are set toward the front.  
It's empty, there's no one there.

The boy is relieved for a moment, but that soon changes when he realizes that there's someone standing next to him. Rather than turning his head around, he turns eyes to the right.

It is exactly he fears…  
There is a 6-year-old girl standing next to his desk. She is shrouded in darkness that it is hard to make out her true appearance. Only her mouth is visible.

Kyuu is clearly shocked to see the shadowy figure of a girl with his eyes widened and its pupils contract. The boy can't move as his body is frozen in fear though the girl doesn't even look at him, she just stares blankly at the chalkboard in the front. The mysterious girl suddenly raises her left arm pointing forward catching Kyuu's attention. Kyuu eventually turns his head staring at the girl's arm as the mysterious girl raises three fingers. The DDS boy is befuddled.

The boy then faces at the mysterious girl who slowly begins to smile.  
Unexpectedly, the girl's smile isn't all murderous intention or even a sinister intention. It's the opposite. It's more of a warm, gentle smile as if the mysterious girl is happy because she accomplishes something.

Suddenly, the girl lowers her arm and raises her other arm. This time, she only raises one finger.

She gradually starts to talk as soon as she lowers her other arm, but disturbingly enough, there is no voice. Even though she's not looking at Kyuu, she is talking to the boy.

A voice suddenly calls out the DDS boy's name.

He immediately glances at the door and finds a young boy who appears to be the same age as he is albeit taller. The boy has clear skin, gray eyes, and a blue-colored hair. His eyes are the exact opposite of Kyuu's. While Kyuu's eyes are wide, Ryu's eyes are slanted. His outfit's color is gray both the shirt and trousers.

The boy is named _**Ryu Amakusa**_.

"Kyuu, what's wrong?" Ryu asks pointing out Kyuu's seemingly stressed expression written all over his face.

The DDS boy is silent.  
He immediately turns back to see the girl, but the mysterious girl isn't there anymore…  
Now Kyuu is even more disturbed.

"…Did you see that?" Kyuu quickly asks in a nervous tone.  
"See what?" Ryu also asks raising his right eyebrow. Kyuu turns his attention back to Ryu.

"A girl. There was a girl right there a moment ago."  
"…I don't… See anyone here other than you, Kyuu."

That sentence alone both disturbs and surprises Kyuu to a completely new level.  
Is he really gone insane? Is he suffering from hallucination?

Ryu approaches Kyuu's desk.  
"Kyuu, Megu told me that you're not feeling yourself. Is everything alright?"

"S-Sorry… It's just…" Kyuu places his hands over his head, "Some things happen and it got me all stressed out."

"Some things happened? Do you need help?"  
"N-No, it's okay, Ryu. I'm fine."  
"Are you sure about it?"  
"Yeah, I'm very sure."

"If you say so," Ryu said as he steps backward, "But we're friends, okay. If you have something that's been troubling you, don't hesitate to ask for help."

"Yeah… Thanks…" Kyuu utters.

"Anyway," Kyuu's usual cheerful nature returns as he looks at Ryu, "How're you and your dad doing?"

"Well, we're fine. We're still having trouble fitting in with our new lives, but we're doing fine," Ryu answers back.

"That's good to hear," Kyuu said in a fit of relief.

Afterwards, Ryu quickly notices the opened book placed on Kyuu's desk.  
"Kyuu, what is that?" Ryu asks pointing at the mysterious book.

"This?" Kyuu closes the book showing its cover, "I found it at the basement of my house. It's some kind of a storybook, or at least that's what I think it is. The thing is… It's the language," Kyuu opens it again and he shows his friend the book's texts. Even Ryu doesn't recognize the odd language written all over the pages.

"Mind if I take a look?" Ryu asks. Kyuu gives the book to Ryu.  
The blue-haired boy examines the book's cover and then the pages one by one. "This is… Quite unusual for a storybook," Ryu said as he gives the book back to Kyuu, "Yeah, what kind of a storybook with some language that we don't know?" Kyuu asks.

"I agree. I've never seen anything like it," Ryu said to Kyuu regarding the strange language written in the book's texts, "I know, it's like something out of a fantasy story," Kyuu adds as he places the book on his desk. Ryu then sits on his desk, which is placed next to Kyuu's on the left.

"Hey, you guys!"

"Eh?"

Kyuu and Ryu turn their attentions to the door and they find the rest of their classmates, Megu, Kinta, and Kazuma, entering the classroom.

The DDS boy greets his friends as they approach him.  
"How're you feeling now?" Megu asks.  
"Better," Kyuu gives her a quick answer.

"Umm, Kyuu, what's that in your desk?" Kazuma suddenly asks as he points at the mysterious book. Megu and Kinta notice the book too.

The 18-year-old man approaches Kyuu's desk and inspects the book from behind Kyuu, "What's this?" Kinta asks as he reads the book's title, Rakenzarn Tales, aloud.

"Rakenzarn Tales? Is that supposed to be a storybook?" Megu asks as she and Kazuma begin to approach Kyuu's desk to see the mysterious book in the boy's desk, "I didn't know you're into books now, Kyuu," Kazuma said to Kyuu.

"Do you mind if I take a look at it?" Megu asks Kyuu, which the DDS boy kindly responds by handing over the book to her.

As Kyuu expects, Megu doesn't recognize the language in the book.

While the others are examining the mysterious book, Kyuu suddenly recalls the mysterious figure of the little girl. He remembers that the little girl raises three fingers and she starts to talk though he hears no voice coming from her mouth.

He begins to wonder…  
Could the girl be talking about the book?

"…_Three fingers… Wait, could she mean by…"_

Kyuu quickly stands up once he figures out one of the possible solutions to the mysterious girl.  
The boy turns his attention to Megu, Kinta, and Kazuma who are still examining the book even if they're not progressing well.

"Sorry guys, but I really need this now," Kyuu apologetically said as he snatches the book from Megu's hands.

The boy turns the book to the third page where it's nothing but texts, no blurry illustrations.

Gazing at the page from the first paragraph, Kyuu looks closely at the texts until something happen…  
He begins to see blue light illuminating the texts little by little. However, the others aren't able to see the blue light, only Kyuu.

To everyone's surprise, Kyuu begins to read…

"Altu, şaro na oron… Ko ze W'ro Küé ot şaro lê mue G'or Yúnz…"

"What… Did you just say, Kyuu?" Megu asks with a slightly surprised look on her face.

"It means… 'One day, Fantasy becomes Reality… And all we know about reality soon come to an end…'"

"What? You… You can read it?" Kinta asks in a surprised tone.

"I… I don't know," Kyuu turns his attention to his friend, Kinta, "Somehow, I suddenly understand its language."

"But look," Kyuu points at the second paragraph of the third page, "This one says 'Where Fantasy becomes Reality lies the place where every fictional character that you have known live.'"

Everyone is suddenly silent…

"Kyuu, you're not trying to play dumb with us, aren't you?" Megu places her hands around her waist with an annoyed look on her face, "You're starting to act all weird now."

"I-I'm not," Kyuu nervously said back though offended.

The boy then turns his attention to the book again.  
Recalling the mysterious girl once more, the girl raises her other arm and holds a finger up.

Kyuu quickly flips the pages to the first page.  
As soon as he does so, the first page suddenly gives out a shining light!

Everyone is completely surprised to see the light until it becomes even brighter that it blinds the classmates in the room. However, Kyuu is the only one who is not blinded as he just stares at the book.

-/-

"W-What's going on here! Kyuu!" Megu cries out aloud in a stressful tone while covering her eyes with her hands.

"I-I don't know! I-I have no idea!" Kyuu nervously shouts. He quickly turns around to see his friends, but only to see that his friends have suddenly disappeared! The light becomes even brighter and bigger as, not only it engulfs the room, but it also engulfs the entire building! The light repeatedly becomes bigger that it eventually engulfs the entire place including the facility!

"_We've been waiting for you…"_

A voice suddenly pops out in Kyuu's mind.

The book suddenly levitates into the air and rapidly flips the pages by itself.  
Kyuu is now even more surprised.

"W-Who's there?" Kyuu nervously asks looking around his surrounding, "What the hell's going on here!"  
However, no one answers.

The surroundings suddenly begin to change. It is not the classroom, but it is more of a town.

Eventually, the book gives out blue and red lights that engulf the 16-year-old boy.

The lights cause the boy's clothes to disappear and replace them with a black sleeveless shirt and a pair of brown, baggy trousers. Kyuu also wears a long, red scarf around his neck. The book suddenly closes itself and soars toward Kyuu landing exactly on his hands.

The shining light eventually fades away…

Now, Kyuu finds himself in a street of a town…

"Where… Am I?"

**-Cyril region-  
Densel Town**

**Street**

Kyuu walks through the street looking around while carrying the mysterious book in his hands.

The DDS boy is now in a Medieval-like town, completed with its old-fashioned structures and interiors. Large walls surround the town. It is divided into four sections.

The first section is the Center District, the main section of town where most of its residents hangout. There are various houses, a restaurant in the left side of the district, a bar in the opposite of the restaurant, and a large building in the middle of the district, which is a place for the authorities. As its name implies, it is the center of town connected with three other sections. In the south, there's a large set of double-doors, which serves as the entrance to town.

To the west is the Shopping District. As the name implies, the district is where people can shop for things, mostly groceries. It also has shops that sell weapons and magic scrolls.

To the east is the Resident District. That is where most people live ranging from the normal houses to the more fancy houses for the rich.

Lastly, to the north is the Guild District, the section where most guilds are located.

As Kyuu continues to walk around the street, he soon notices that the people around him are dressed rather strange. Most of the people are dressed in fantasy setting (mostly Medieval style) while some of them are dressed in a more modern style. There are even some teenagers in Japanese high school uniforms. Strangely enough, there are people using mobile phones and IPod touch.

"_Whoa… Am I really in another world? This is so just like one of those mangas and movies." _

Kyuu continues to walk until he passes by a certain girl in a light, blue school uniform.

Once he sees the girl's face clearly, the boy suddenly stops with a surprised look in his face while the girl continues to walk away.

"…W-Wait!" Kyuu quickly turns around and approaches the girl, "Excuse me!"

The girl turns around glancing at Kyuu revealing her real appearance: she has blue eyes with a long blonde, odango-pigtails hairstyle. Her skin is pale. Her body's build is quite slim and lithe, almost perfect for an elegant young girl. Her school uniform has a blue sailor collar with two white stripes. She also has a red ribbon on the front of her uniform, which she ties her locket too. She has a white school top with blue sleeves which have white stripes on like the collar. She has a blue pleated skirt with a blue ribbon on the back. She usually wears white socks and black shoes.

"Hmm? Can I help you?" the girl kindly asks with bright look on her face.

"…Is your name… _**Usagi Tsukino**_?"  
"Yup, that's me. And how did you know my name?"

Upon hearing the girl's answer, it completely shocks Kyuu that he nearly drops the book.  
The girl right in front of him is none other than _**Usagi Tsukino**_, also known as _**Sailor Moon**_, one of the most famous magical girl anime/manga.

"…I'm dreaming, aren't I?" Kyuu nervously said to himself as he lays his right hand on his cheek feeling more anxious.

The boy decides to pinch his own cheek thinking that it will wake him up, but to his surprise, it only hurts him. Next, he decides to punch his own face though the result is still the same, only much more painful. From that moment, Kyuu finally realizes that it's not a dream at all, it's real.

Usagi Tsukino stares at the boy feeling awkward with him.  
"Uuhh… Are you okay?" Usagi asks.

"Oh, I'm okay alright… Just nuts," Kyuu said in a rather silly tone before he laughs hysterically. He then turns around and starts walk away with his arms swinging back and forth much to Usagi's confusion.

-/-

Kyuu walks throughout the street with his eyes closed and swinging his arms around.

"_First, feeling being watched, then that spooky girl, now this… Meeting an anime girl. What's next? More of 'em?"_

Since he isn't looking at the front, Kyuu accidentally bumps into someone's back. Opening his eyes, he sees a large, fat man with yellow skin and short brown hair. "Hey! Watch where you goin'!" The yellow-skinned man angrily yells glaring at the boy before he walks away toward the direction leading to the local bar.

Even this character Kyuu immediately recognizes. That character is _**Barney Gumble**_.

"…Oh man," Kyuu mutters as he slowly walks backward without looking until he reaches a wall leaning his back on it, "Even The Simpsons are here?"

To his surprise, a small, white being resembling a plush toy walks by and stands next to the DDS boy.  
The being has stubby hands and feet that lack distinct digits. It also has large, spherical heads, small ears sprouting out of the sides of their heads. Its eyes are narrowed into brown slits and its nose is bulbous and pink-colored. The little creature also sports tiny, purple wings that resemble bats' on their backs. Its most notable trait is its large, red, sphere-shaped 'pom-poms' attached on the top of its head by a thin, brown antenna.

The boy recognizes the little creature as a _**Moogle**_.

"…Final Fantasy too?" Kyuu utters quietly until he notices that the Moogle is holding three posters.

The Moogle suddenly flies into the air and places the three posters into the wall. The Moogle then lands on the ground. The little creature turns around until it notices the boy, but it quickly ignores the DDS boy and leaves.

Kyuu then turns his attention to the posters; he finds out that those are actually wanted posters.  
Now Kyuu is even more surprised when he sees the faces on those posters…

First poster has the face portrait of a bald man wearing sunglasses that completely cover his eyes and goggles on his forehead. The man's notable trait has to be his red, oddly shaped, mustache.

**-**_**  
Eggman  
**_**Reward: 15,000,000 Gs  
-**

Next, the second wanted poster is a tanned, mustachioed man who wears dark brown hair in dreadlocks decorated with numerous beads. His beard is similarly styled into two smaller dreads, each with two very small beads near the tips. He also wears a faded red bandana on his head, on which is another small beaded ornament ending in a silver coin.

**-  
**_**Jack Sparrow  
**_**Reward: 20,000,000 Gs  
-**

Lastly, the third poster is very unusual for a 'criminal.' It's a man covered with toilet tissues and toilet armor.

**-  
**_**Toilenator  
**_**Reward: 5 Gs  
-**

Seeing the faces in the posters have completely surprised Kyuu even more. Ranging from meeting Sailor Moon and a Moogle, Kyuu finally realizes that he's in some kind of a world where fictional characters are real.

As if things aren't enough for him, when he turns around to leave, he accidentally bumps into another, large person from the back.

"S-Sorry!" Kyuu apologetically said as he bows his head. Once he lifts his head up, the big individual turns around revealing to be a black, humanoid cat in a black armor. Like the rest of the people he met, the anthropomorphic cat is also a fictional character. He's actually the famous Disney villain, _**Pete**_! Kyuu isn't surprised anymore after meeting the other fictional characters, but he knows that the big, brutish cat isn't a nice person either.

"HEY!"  
Pete suddenly grabs Kyuu by his hair. In the process, Kyuu drops the book.

"Watch it, ya little runt! What's the big idea bumping with a big guy like me, huh?" Pete angrily yells at Kyuu.  
"W-Wait," Kyuu nervously yelps as he struggles to break free from Pete's grasp, "I can explain! Just let go!"

Suddenly, a slightly feminine voice yells out, "HOLD IT!"

Pete, while still holding Kyuu by his hair, notices a certain boy in red approaches them.  
The boy is slightly smaller than Kyuu, has blue hair, wave markings engraved on his cheeks and his pants, and sports a red hat with a strange symbol on it.

"There you are," the boy said toward Kyuu.

"Huh? This 'ere runt's with you?" Pete asks as he puts Kyuu down on the ground.

"Yes, he is. He's just come in from the village by the mountains, you see," the boy quickly approaches the DDS boy who quickly picks up the mysterious book lying on the ground. The boy in red grabs him by his arm, "Please excuse him, he's not used to be in a town before. Thanks for finding him," the boy then drags Kyuu away from Pete.

"Listen," the boy suddenly whispers at Kyuu, "Just play along and I'll get you out."

The DDS boy stares at the boy in red as he slowly recognizes him…

"Excuse me," Kyuu whispers back, "But are you… _**Kite**_?"

"Huh?" The boy in red, whose name is really Kite, suddenly stops in his track as he quickly faces toward Kyuu. They're already far away from the Disney bully. "How… Did you know my name?" Kite asks with a slightly surprised look on his face, "I don't think we've ever met."

Before they can even talk a bit more, the anthropomorphic cat, Pete, suddenly shows up.  
"Now just a minute, you two," Pete said catching the boys' attention. The anthropomorphic cat points at the DDS boy. "You there! You're an Arxus Rogue, aren'tcha?"

"A what?"  
"Yeah, your outfit tells me that you're one of them Arxus Rogues! Arxus Rogues are pretty rare too."

Pete suddenly clenches both his fists with a big grin on his face, "Mind if we have a little round?"

"Huh? W-What's going on?" Kyuu nervously asks as Kite suddenly draws out a pair of sharp blades.  
"He's challenging you to a fight," Kite said to Kyuu as the boy in red poses an offensive stance holding his right blade in a reverse grip and his left blade in a normal grip, "Don't worry, I'll back you up."

"Oh, having backup, eh? I'll call mine!"  
Pete gives out a loud whistle. Three anthropomorphic dogs suddenly show up behind Pete. Those humanoid dogs are supposedly to be beagles. They have grayish skin, British accent, and each of them wears a dark brown hood. Two of the anthropomorphic dogs are tall, probably taller than Kyuu, while the third one is rather short.

"What's up, boss?" one of the tall Beagle Boys asks while saluting Mickey Mouse's archenemy, "I want you guys to help me take care of these li'l punks, that's all!" Pete points at the two boys, Kyuu and Kite, "And I promise ya, I'll pay you handsomely!"

"…_**The Beagle Boys**_?" Kyuu utters quietly while glancing at the anthropomorphic dogs.  
_"Honestly, I was hoping for the Duck Tales version, but that'll work."_

The Beagle Boys immediately draws out their weapons. Each of the anthropomorphic dogs sports a 17th century France rapier.

"Boys! Get 'em!"  
"Yes, boss!"

The three Beagle Boys charge toward an unarmed Kyuu and an armed Kite.

_**To be continued…**_

**-XX-**

**A/N:**  
And so, here you have it.

The first part of the prologue, but there's one more part before we continue to the real story.

For the characters that make their debut in this chapter (exclude Kyuu and his friends from his series) are listed below:  
- _**Kite**_, the main character from the original **.hack games**.  
- _**Pete**_, the big, brutish cat who is Mickey Mouse's archenemy in the **Disney cartoon**.  
- _**Beagle Boys**_, the villainous anthropomorphic dogs and one of the main villains of **Scrooge McDuck** in **Duck Tales**. The Beagle Boys in this chapter are from the direct-to-video film, **Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers**, but don't worry, the Duck Tales version will appear in this story later.

The next list is the characters that make their cameo appearances, but some of them would appear later in the story:  
- _**Usagi Tsukino**_, the main character of the magical girl anime/manga, **Sailor Moon**.  
- _**Barney Gumble**_, he's the alcoholic character and Homer Simpson's best friend from the animated sitcom, **The Simpsons**.  
- _**Moogle**_, the famous small creatures that appear several **Square Enix** game series, including **Final Fantasy** series, the** Mana** series, the** Chocobo** series, and the** Kingdom Hearts** series.  
- _**Dr. Eggman**_, the main villain from **Sonic the Hedgehog** games, though appear in a wanted poster.  
- _**Jack Sparrow**_, the famous pirate from **Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean**, though appears in a wanted poster.  
- _**Toilenator**_, the comic-relief villain from **Kids Next Door**, also appears in a wanted poster with a very low price.


	2. Chapter 0: Prologue part 2

**DISCLAIMER**: I don't own some of characters in the story. The characters that will appear in this fic are owned by their respective owners. There will also be OCs that are owned by their respective authors.

-/-

_So it begins_

_After suffering through the horrible phenomenon, he finally arrived inside the storybook itself._

_Now what awaits him within the storybook's world?_

**Rakenzarn Tales**

**-/-**

**-Cyril region-  
Densel Town**

**Street**

"Huh?"

Kite glances at Kyuu face-to-face.

"How… Did you know my name?" Kite asks with a slightly surprised look on his face, "I don't think we've ever met."

Before they can even talk a bit more, the anthropomorphic cat, Pete, suddenly shows up.  
"Now just a minute, you two," Pete said catching the boys' attention. The anthropomorphic cat points at the DDS boy. "You there! You're an Arxus Rogue, aren'tcha?"

"A what?"  
"Yeah, your outfit tells me that you're one of them Arxus Rogues! Arxus Rogues are pretty rare too."

Pete suddenly clenches both his fists with a big grin on his face, "Mind if we have a little round?"

"Huh? W-What's going on?" Kyuu nervously asks as Kite suddenly draws out a pair of sharp blades.  
"He's challenging you to a fight," Kite said to Kyuu as the boy in red poses an offensive stance holding his right blade in a reverse grip and his left blade in a normal grip, "Don't worry, I'll back you up."

"Oh, having backup, eh? I'll call mine!"

Pete gives out a loud whistle. Three anthropomorphic dogs suddenly show up behind Pete. Those humanoid dogs are supposedly to be beagles. They have grayish skin, British accent, and each of them wears a dark brown hood. Two of the anthropomorphic dogs are tall, probably taller than Kyuu, while the third one is rather short.

"What's up, boss?" one of the tall Beagle Boys asks while saluting Mickey Mouse's archenemy, "I want you guys to help me take care of these li'l punks, that's all!" Pete points at the two boys, Kyuu and Kite, "And I promise ya, I'll pay you handsomely!"

"…The Beagle Boys?" Kyuu utters quietly while glancing at the anthropomorphic dogs.  
_"Honestly, I was hoping for the Duck Tales version, but that'll work."_

The Beagle Boys immediately draws out their weapons. Each of the anthropomorphic dogs sports a 17th century France rapier.

"Boys! Get 'em!"  
"Yes, boss!"

The three Beagle Boys charge toward an unarmed Kyuu and an armed Kite.

-Prologue part 2-  
-Welcome to Rakenzarn-

The detective boy yelps as he leans backward. Kyuu tips his legs over the ground, which causes him to fall to the ground. Thankfully, Kite is there with the DDS boy as the .hack protagonist dashes forward blocking the anthropomorphic dogs' rapiers with his blades locking their respective weapons against each other. Kite successfully pushes the thugs away knocking them backwards.

"W-What're you doing?" Kite glances at Kyuu who's kneeling on the ground, "Come on and help me out!"

"But… I-I don't know how to fight. Heck, I can't even fight!" Kyuu yelps nervously.

"Well, lucky for us! That makes three against one," one of the taller Beagle Boys merrily said as the three anthropomorphic dogs immediately stand up pointing their rapiers at Kite with gleeful faces, "Let's have a bit fun with this kid, eh?"

"Oh yeah?" Kite suddenly turns out glaring at the Beagle Boys while in still in his offensive stance, "I wouldn't be too sure if I were you."

"OI!" The Beagle Boys lunge at Kite.  
The boy in red blocks their rapiers with his blades locking against each other once again.

Kite successfully pushes the anthropomorphic dogs away knocking their balance again, causing them to fall to the ground. However, one of the taller Beagle Boys quickly rolls to the left and charges straight at Kite. The .hack hero blocks the Beagle Boy's rapier with one of his blades and counter with a kick on his face. "Yeowh! My face!" the Beagle Boy cries in pain before Kite executes an upward kick straight on his chin knocking the anthropomorphic dog down to the ground.

As Kite turns around forward, the smaller Beagle Boy performs a head-butt charge on the boy in red's abdomen.  
It's very painful since the impact is both strong and fast. Kite leans backward while holding his stomach in pain.

The smaller Beagle Boy chuckles as the other tall Beagle Boy lunges forward. Surprisingly, Kite blocks the Beagle Boy's attack with only one blade while his other arm is holding his stomach. Kite suddenly slides backward afterwards and dashes toward the Beagle Boy. The boy executes a butterfly kick, which directly strikes the Beagle Boy on the head slamming the thug to the ground.

Kite quickly turns around facing the short Beagle Boy. The Beagle Boy jumps into the air while rolling toward Kite attempting to slice the boy with a downward slash. Unfortunately, Kite leans to the right easily evading the assault. Once the short Beagle Boy is on the ground, Kite dashes at the thug and executes an upward kick sending the Beagle Boy flying into the air.

When the short Beagle Boy crash-lands on the ground, Kite quickly notices that the other two Beagle Boys have recovered quickly and they're both standing in front of the boy in red.

The short Beagle Boy quickly gets up and joins up with the other Beagle Boys as they decide to surround the .hack hero.

"Altogether, boys! CHARGE!" the Beagle Boys charge toward Kite simultaneously.  
When they get very close to the boy in red, Kite leaps from one foot and jumps high into the air evading the thugs' assault. Kite lands behind the Beagle Boys.

As soon as the Beagle Boys turn around to face Kite, the .hack protagonist immediately swings his blades vertically cutting off the boys' rapiers into pieces and, comically, their clothes leaving nothing but their underwear.

The Beagle Boys chuckle nervously as Kite withdraws his blades.  
"Umm… C-C-Can we talk this over with?" the short Beagle Boy nervously asks with a hint of stuttering from the tone of his voice. The taller Beagle Boys nod in unison with jumpy smiles.

As a reply, Kite charges at the Beagle Boys and executes a strong butterfly kick, which sends the Beagle Boys hurling across the street crashing at some garbage cans.

After a brief fight with the Beagle Boys, Kite turns around to see Kyuu, but only to find the boy on the run from Pete who's holding a large axe.

"HELP! COME AND SAVE ME!"  
"HEY, STOP RUNNING AND FIGHT LIKE A REAL BOY!"

Kyuu and Pete suddenly stop on their trail as they face at each other.

"Don't you mean by 'Fight like a real man?'"  
"Oh shut up and run like a sissy."

Kyuu continues to run with Pete hot in his trail. They both enter a nearby alley.

"…You gotta be kidding me…" Kite begins to drop a single sweat after witnessing the comical scene, "An Arxus Rogue who can't even fight?"

The .hack protagonist immediately runs into the alley.

-/-

"OH SNAP!"

Kyuu ends up at a dead end.

The boy quickly turns around and finds Pete standing right in the front. The big, brutish cat huffs heavily while kneeling. "Why… Did you hafta… Run so fast?" Pete exhaustedly asks as he slowly stands up.

Pete then approaches slowly toward Kyuu. The poor boy chuckles nervously as he leans his back on the wall. "W-Wait, Pete! You got it all wrong! I'm not an Arxus Rogue!" Kyuu anxiously shouts as the Disney villain finally gets close the boy standing right in front of him.

"Hey! I know one when I saw one and YOU!" Pete points his index finger directly at Kyuu's forehead, "YOU dress up like one, so ya gotta be one!"

"Oh come on, can't you just listen to me! I'm no Arxus Rogue! I can't even fight!" Kyuu nervously shouts trying to act tough, but seeing that the boy himself isn't strong in terms of physical combat, the boy doesn't even dare to act real tough at the anthropomorphic cat.

Pete stares at Kyuu with a blank expression for a while, which causes the DDS boy to feel more anxious than ever.

"You gotta be kiddin' me?" Pete finally speaks in a rather disappointed tone completed with a disappointed expression written all over his face. "Ya tellin' me that an Arxus Rogue like you don't even know how ta fight?" Pete asks.

Kyuu timidly nods.

"…Oh come on, you gotta be kidding!" Pete yells as he grabs the boy by his scarf, "I heard that dem Arxus Rogues are specially selected! You can't be one o' them by accident!" The brutish cat then puts Kyuu back on the ground as he suddenly points his thumb at his belly.

"Come on, hit me."

"Eh what?" Kyuu utters with a confused look.

"Didn't ya hear what I said, kid? H-I-T M-E! Hit me! Show me what you can do if you're really an Arxus Rogue!" Pete yells out again while repeatedly pointing his belly prompting the boy to punch him.

"Uhh… Okay," Kyuu twirls his fist preparing to punch the Disney villain.

The boy throws the punch. As expected, Pete's belly deflects the punch rendering the Disney villain unharmed. Kyuu, on the other hand, gives out a painful yelp while holding his fist. Pete glances at the DDS boy feeling very disappointed over the fact that the boy can't fight at all.

Kyuu tries to punch again, but the result remains the same.  
Kyuu does it again repeatedly for about 10 times.

Afterwards, Kyuu stops punching Pete's belly until he notices that Mickey's archenemy isn't exactly pleased by the results.

"…I am very disappointed…" Pete mutters with a monotone voice, "And you know what happens when I'm very disappointed?"

The boy can picture what exactly is going to happen next if he stays there any longer.  
Quickly to act but without giving it a second thought, Kyuu points behind Pete and yells, "LOOK! IT'S ALICE!"

Kyuu then quickly tries to run through Pete. Unfortunately, the big bully doesn't fall for the trick as he merely grabs the boy by his head. "Kid," Pete calls the boy with a monotone voice, "Them tricks is already gettin' old."

At the same time, Kite is still on his way to find Kyuu and Pete.  
That is until he hears a loud pounding sound. Kyuu suddenly hurls pass the .hack protagonist much to his surprise. The impact from Pete's punch is so strong that it directly sends Kyuu out from the alley and into the street.

-/-

In a vendor just across the street, it sells different kinds of pendants and jewelries.  
A pair of odd-looking men owns that particular vendor.

One is a short, obese, but slightly muscular man wearing an outfit that's similar to a rather famous video game plumber, only the shirt and overalls are yellow and purple respectively with his shoes appear to be green winkle pickers. He also wears a green cap with the initial 'W' on it. He has a more untamed mustache.

The other one is a tall, skinny man wearing similar outfit and shoes with the short man; only the shirt and overalls are dark purple and black respectively. Like the short, obese man, he wears a similar cap colored dark purple and its initial is an upside down 'L.' He has a more tamed mustache.

They're actually _**Wario **_and _**Waluigi**_.

"Come on, folks!" Wario holds out a beautiful diamond necklace, "Get your pedants from us, the Wario Bros! At the right price, that is," the obese man gleefully said while twiddling his mustache and holding the necklace at the same time.

"Yeah! You gotta be idiots for not taking such generous offer!" Waluigi yells out too while holding out two pearl necklaces, "Even with the plague's around causing a lot of suffering, the Wario Bros. will always to make things better!"

While not many people aren't interested with jewelry right now, the Wario Bros. manage to gain attention from one of the crowd. The person is actually a cute, 16 years old girl. She appears to be wearing a dress that looks like a magician's outfit colored in blue and pink. She has blonde hair, green eyes, and carries a wand that matches her outfit.

The Bros. are quickly smitten by the girl's cute appearance. Wario comically pushes Waluigi aside and holds the diamond necklace closer to the girl. "Hiya, toots! Would ya like one of these?" Wario asks the customer with a rather smooth tone.

The girl is quiet all the sudden, but her eyes are completely set on the fine-looking necklace.

"I… Guess… No, I mean yes," the girl shakes her head sideways and then glances at the necklace once more, "I'd like to have this."

"Well, it's yours, toots, but that'll be 20,000 Gs," Wario reaches out his other hand wide opened prompting the girl to pay for the necklace, "You know what they say. Not everything is free in this world."

The customer gladly pays the obese plumber with a pouch containing the money and she takes the necklace from Wario's hand.

"GANG WAY!"

"Huh?"  
Wario and the customer both hear someone yelling hysterically. Waluigi eventually arrives and asks what just happened. In response, the brothers and the customer look to their right… Only to see a hurling Kyuu is heading toward them!

"What in the—"  
Before either of them can act, Kyuu ends up crashing at them along with the vendor. As a result, the vendor is destroyed. It is completely in shambles.

The Wario Bros. emerge from the remains of their vendor and they're completely enraged that their hard-earned work is now gone. Wario and Waluigi, in a fit of rage, turn their attention to Kyuu finding him lying next to the customer, who's also lying down due to the impact.

"Ouch… That… Hurts…" Kyuu mutters painfully until he notices the girl next to him. Like the rest of the characters in this town, he recognizes the girl too. The girl also utters in pain until she quickly notices that the vendor is completely ruined. "Ah! M-My necklace!" the girl screams as she quickly runs to the remains of the necklace, now completely shattered in pieces.

"…You!" the girl suddenly turns her attention to Kyuu and grabs the DDS boy by his scarf, "I've wasted a lot of money for this necklace and you have to break it! Now what're you gonna do with this mess!"

The boy is rather silent. It's not because he doesn't have a solution to the problem now, but rather, he's smitten by the girl's appearance since he also recognizes the girl from the real world.

"You're… _**Dark Magician Girl**_?"

"…What?" the girl is indeed the Dark Magician Girl.  
She immediately let go of Kyuu, "You know my name?"

The DDS boy nods as he glances at the remains of the necklace, "If you're talking about that necklace, you shouldn't be mad with me. You should be mad with the Wario Bros. here," Kyuu said while pointing at the Wario Bros. much to Dark Magician Girl's confusion, but the brothers, on the other hand, are suddenly surprised.

"What do you mean?" Dark Magician Girl asks.  
"Take a look at one of the pieces there and you'll see," Kyuu answers.

The girl does what the boy told her. She picks one of the shattered pieces from the ground and inspects it. Thankfully, Dark Magician Girl has keen eyes. To her surprise, the diamond piece suddenly changes into a broken glass piece.

"…Uh-oh…" the Wario Bros. utter.  
"Hey, I thought you said that potion last forever," Wario whispers at his brother.  
Waluigi carefully takes out a small bottle from his back pocket. Once the sneaky character reads the label on the back of the bottle, it says…

'Warning: a strong impact can cancel its effect.'

"Oooooh."

Wario slaps his hand flat across his forehead in frustration, "Why do I even bother helping you?"  
He then snatches the bottle from Waluigi's hand and points at the label's warning while yelling, "And how come something like this doesn't come in big letters!"

Wario glares at Waluigi for a while until they notice that the blonde-haired girl is standing right in front of them. She's obviously not happy that the necklace is fake and the brothers become even more anxious once they see the angry look on her face.

Dark Magician Girl reaches out her hand prompting the Wario Bros. to give her money back.

"…YOU!" the two brothers suddenly gang up on Kyuu.  
"WHY THE HECK DID YOU HAFTA CRASH AND BURN AT OUR PLACE!" Wario yells aloud in a furious tone.  
"YEAH, WALUIGI SPENT LOTS OF CASH TO BUY THIS!" Waluigi shoves the bottle close to Kyuu's face.

"W-Wait, why are you blaming me? Aren't you guys supposed to be ashamed of yourselves?" Kyuu nervously asks stepping a bit backward. The DDS boy attempts to walk away from the Wario Bros. knowing that bad things bound to happen again if he stays there any longer.

To his chagrin, Pete suddenly appears behind Kyuu blocking his escape route.

"Now just where ya think you're going, punk?" Pete pushes Kyuu away forcing him closer to the Wario Bros, "You're gonna pay pretendin' to be one of dem Arxus Rogues!"

With Pete joining, the three ruffians gang up on Kyuu complaining over their respective problems with the boy while the girl just stands there watching.

Dark Magician Girl suddenly feels another presence. When she looks to her right, she finds Kite approaching.

"So… There he is…" Kite said feeling very exhausted after running all the way from the alley to this particular spot.  
"He's your acquaintance?" Dark Magician Girl asks as they glance at Kyuu who's trying to calm Pete and the Wario Bros. but to no avail. The .hack protagonist replies with a nod.

The three hooligans continue to complain toward Kyuu for almost five minutes that even Kyuu loses his patience.

The boy lowers his head in silent.  
"Can't you guys…" A blue light suddenly shines Kyuu's left arm.  
"Just…" The light shines even brighter as soon as Kyuu throws a punch into the air above.  
"KNOCK IT OFF!" a powerful wave flows through the boy's arm that it sends the hooligans flying into midair. That surprising sight surprises both Kite and Dark Magician Girl.

As soon as the blue light fades, the boy in red and the female magician notice something on the DDS boy's left hand. The boy is equipped with a crimson colored gauntlet.

"W…What?" Kyuu lowers his head and notices the gauntlet in his left hand much to his confusion.

"Oi, did he just done that?"  
The boy from the real world lifts his head looking at the front. He spots the recently recovered Beagle Boys (also wearing their respective clothes) standing not too far from him.

"Yeah, he just did," the short Beagle Boy said aloud until Pete and the Wario Bros. comically land right on them.  
"S-See?" Pete dizzily utters as he slowly stands up with Wario and Waluigi lying on the pinned-down Beagle Boys, "I told ya he's an Arxus Rogue."

As if things aren't enough for the ruffians, a Moogle suddenly pass by holding various posters.  
The Final Fantasy creature then posts the pictures on a nearby wall. Much to the villains' surprise, they are actually wanted posters with their faces on it… Except for one.

-  
_**Pete  
**_**Reward: 12,000,000 Gs  
**-

-  
_**The Beagle Boys  
**_**Reward: 21,000,000 Gs (7,000,000 Gs for each Beagle Boy)  
**-

**-  
**_**Wario  
**_**Reward: 12,000,000 Gs  
**-

-  
_**Waluigi  
**_**Reward: 9,000,000 Gs  
**-

-  
_**Amoeba Boys  
**_**Reward: 3 Gs (1 G for each)  
**-

"Hey, look! That's us!" the short Beagle Boy points at the posters with a happy look on his face as if something really good is happening. "It's nice to be wanted, isn't it?"

"You idiot!" Wario gives the Beagle Boy a dope slap from the back of the anthropomorphic dog's head, "Those ain't 'Hugs and Kisses' type of wanted! It's 'Thrown into a Stinkin' Cell and Forget About' type of wanted!"

From that very moment, the hooligans notice a large group from the crowd is staring at them. They quickly feel uneasy when they realize that each from the group is carrying various weapons, including swords, arrows, spears, axes, knives, pistols, shotguns, submachine guns, hatchets, and even chainsaws. It turns out that they are actually a group of bounty hunters.

Pete, the Wario Brothers, and the Beagle Boys simultaneously utter, "Uh-oh."

"Let's get outta here!" Pete yells hysterically. The brutish cat quickly shoves the boys around him aside and starts to run for his life while yelling, "ME FIRST!"

"Hey! Wait for us!" Wario quickly runs too with Waluigi and the Beagle Boys follow from behind. The bounty hunters immediately chase after the wanted hooligans.

Once the ruffians are gone, Kyuu gives out a sigh feeling relieved. At the same time, Kyuu feels more amazed since he is actually interacting with fictional characters, and it's not a dream at all.

Kyuu looks at his left hand glancing over the mysterious gauntlet. Wondering how the gauntlet appears in his hand out of nowhere, the DDS boy touches the crimson-colored gauntlet until a soft blue light suddenly shines his left arm. When the light disappears, the gauntlet is also gone.

The boy is completely in awe staring down at his left arm.

"Wow, I've heard a lot of stories about the Arxus Rogues. I never thought I'd get to meet one face-to-face," Kite said as he approaches Kyuu. The DDS boy turns around glancing at the .hack protagonist.

"Uuuh… Thanks for helping me out," Kyuu said in a nervous tone while scratching the back of his head, "I would've been in a bigger problem without you."

"Don't mention it, but you should be more careful around town. There have been outlaws hanging around Densel Town lately," Kite said to Kyuu.

"Sorry, I was…" Kyuu looks down on the ground with his hand on the back of his head, "…Well, a lot of weird things happen to me and… Wait a sec! My book!" The DDS boy quickly realizes that the mysterious book is not in his hands. He must've dropped it during the chase with Pete earlier.

The boy is thrown into a panic as he runs around looking for the book.

As Kyuu continues to run around, the blonde haired Dark Magician Girl appears right in front of him. The girl holds out her arm and pushes on the boy's head, which prevents Kyuu from running around. "Would you just calm down?" Dark Magician Girl pushes Kyuu forcing him to stand still. Taking her advice in, Kyuu calms himself down.

Looking straight at the attractive young girl, Kyuu notices two things she's holding in her hands: the pouch that contains her money and Kyuu's book.

"While you punch the nuts out of those guys, the fat guy dropped my money," Dark Magician Girl holds her pouch higher and then lowers it. Next, she holds the book in her other hand higher, "And I found this book lying on the ground not too long ago. I'm guessing this is yours?"

"Y-Yeah! That's the one!" Kyuu shouts with a delighted look on his face.

In a comedic moment, Kyuu bows at Dark Magician Girl as if he's worshipping her as a goddess. The boy repeatedly said, "Thank you!" which makes Kite and Dark Magician Girl feel awkward.

"…Ooookay," the blonde haired girl grabs the boy and forces him to stand straight before handing him the mysterious book, "This is one weird week."

**Louis' Place**

Dark Magician Girl takes Kyuu and Kite to the local restaurant.

Strangely enough, the restaurant is somewhat similar to the one Kyuu and Megu went at the real world from yesterday. The tables, the interiors, even an uncanny similar TV placed above the counter. That alone gives Kyuu a small case of Déjà vu.

The boy looks over the restaurant from his seat reminiscing over its resemblance to one back at the real world.

In their table, the three individuals sit in the opposite direction: Kyuu sits on the left side, Dark Magician Girl sits on the right side, and Kite sits on the upper side.

"Why are we here again?" Kite kindly asks.

"To thank your friend here for saving my money from getting wasted," Dark Magician Girl answers whilst pointing at the DDS boy, "And don't worry about it, I'm friends with the owner of this place. He still owed me for that little favor of his, so he let me have free food just this once."

"Speaking of heck, here they are."  
A waiter arrives with their meals: Confit byaldi, a variation of ratatouille that's actually a well-known French dish.

Coincidentally, ratatouille happens to be one of the foods that Kite eagerly wants to try it, so he and the blonde girl immediately eat their meals. Kite clearly enjoys the French cuisine and Dark Magician Girl seems to enjoy it from the looks on her face. However, Kyuu looks down at his meal. The boy had never tried any other delicacies other than Japanese food.

"Hey," Kite suddenly calls Kyuu getting his attention, "Aren't you gonna eat?"

The DDS boy acknowledges. The boy takes his knife and fork cutting the vegetable by a bit. Once he sticks his fork on it, he immediately places the food into his mouth and bites it. To his surprise, the French cuisine tastes better than he thought.

Kyuu starts to eat his dish in such a hurry, not because he is running out of time; it's more he likes the delicacy.

"By the way," Kite, whose meal is half done, starts to talk toward Kyuu while Dark Magician Girl watches them, "That big bully, those three guys, and the scammers… You seem to know them before, aren't you?"

Kyuu immediately stops eating and glances back at Kite. He knows that the .hack protagonist is referring to the ruffians earlier: Pete, the Beagle Boys, Wario, and Waluigi.

"Yeah… Now that you mention it," Dark Magician Girl glances at Kyuu, "You recognize me too, but… We never met. I never forget a face, but," the girl suddenly pinches both her hands on the boy's cheeks, which hurts the boy, "You? I've never seen you before."

"H-Hey, cut it out!" Kyuu quickly shoves the girl's hands away from his cheeks, "But yeah, I've seen them and you two before. Well… Not in real person, at least."

"Real?" Dark Magician Girl raises an eyebrow.  
"So where are you from exactly?" Kite asks, "Da'fur? Veryl? Kandur?"

"W-Wait a minute, if you're from another region… How did you get in here?" Dark Magician Girl suddenly asks while pointing her index finger below, "I thought no one is able to get out or enter this region with the barrier's up."

"I… I don't know, I'm already confused right now," Kyuu said in a rather calm tone, but from the look of his face, he is obviously confused, "Strange things happen since yesterday and I don't know where I am… And to top it off, I'm talking to a pair of fictional characters!"

"Fictional… Characters?" Dark Magician Girl raises her other eyebrow feeling a bit confused. Her expression suddenly changes to a much more serious face. "What do you mean that I'm not real? Look at me, I'm here talking directly at you. What do you call that then? And for your information, you're in Densel Town of the Cyril region."

"Oh fine, so you are real," Kyuu mutters with an annoyed look on his face.

"H-Hey, no need to act hostile," Kite quickly calms Kyuu down, "Listen, why don't you tell me what just happened to you. Start from the very beginning."

-/-

Kyuu explains everything to Kite and Dark Magician Girl from the very beginning until now.

As expected, the boy's story only makes the two fictional characters feel more confused.

"I… Really don't get it," Dark Magician Girl utters while placing her fingers on her forehead in confusion, "So you're saying in your 'world,' we're not real… The red boy here is just a video game character and I'm just a manga character? And how did you know that I'm a Duel Monster spirit?"

"Yeah, I told you. I know you from the real world," Kyuu said back.

"So you're saying that here is just like your 'fantasy' world?"  
"Yeah… Come to think of it, it does feel like I'm in a video game!"

"…Okay, now I'm the one who's confused," Dark Magician Girl retorts.  
"Um… Yeah, I'm confused too," Kite adds.

"This is the most bizarre thing I've ever heard, but…"

"Sorry… I guess I'm only making it even more confusing for you two," Kyuu apologetically said lowering his head a bit. The boy then picks up the mysterious book lying next to him and glances at the book's title, "And you're saying… I'm in Rakenzarn?"

Kyuu recalls during his explanation of his story to the two.  
When he mentioned the book's title, Kite and Dark Magician Girl immediately told Kyuu that Rakenzarn is actually a huge world, if not, an entire planet. Dark Magician Girl explained that when she found the book, she thought that it's a storybook. The boy then realized that he's inside the storybook's world.

The boy stares at the book for a while before he decides to peek inside once more.

"_Just… What exactly is this?"_ Kyuu thought as he opens the book.

As soon as he looks at the first few pages, something suddenly shocks him. The boy's pupils contract as a result.  
"Hmm? Is something wrong?" Kite asks as Dark Magician Girl suddenly moves and sits next to Kyuu, "Yeah, what's up with that book of yours?" the girl sticks her head closer to see the book's pages. She is also surprise when she notices something very odd in the pages' texts.

Kite stands up and gets behind Kyuu so he can see the book too, and even the .hack protagonist is surprised to see what it is that surprises both the DDS boy and the blonde-haired girl.

The book's first few pages show records of every single from the beginning in Kyuu's 'real world' until the very moment Kyuu meets both Kite and Dark Magician Girl. Its records exactly capture every detail and every moment of it, without missing a bit of element from the events. For the rest of the pages, they're completely blank much to Kyuu's confusion.

The looks on Kyuu's faces alone convince Kite and Dark Magician Girl that the DDS boy didn't write the book. Even if he did, they would've seen him writing the latest pages of the book.

"…"

Desperate

Confusion

Frustration

Depression

Fear

Those feelings stir right into Kyuu's mind, mixing into his mentality torturing the poor boy.  
The boy from the real pushes his plate away and places his head on the table with his arms wrapping around his head.

"What… Should I do?" Kyuu asks in a monotone voice.

"I've suffered a lot of strange things and now this… I… I really don't know what to do next. Everything happens really fast…"

"Am I… Going crazy?" Kyuu holds his head tighter.  
"Can someone… Just…"

Kite suddenly pats Kyuu's shoulder. The poor boy lifts his head from the table and looks back glancing at Kite. "I'll help," Kite said in a calm tone.

"I still don't what's going on here, but I know that our meeting like this was no accident at all. Stick with me, we might be able find out something about that book of yours and the answers to your questions."

"Yeah, count me in too," Dark Magician Girl also said getting Kyuu's attention to her, "I'm starting to think your arrival and that book somehow connected with this whole plague."

"Plague?"

Dark Magician Girl begins to explain to Kyuu a terrible crisis that Rakenzarn is currently facing.

Rakenzarn was once a peaceful and adventurous world, but now it was cursed. A mysterious plague had occurred out of nowhere and cursed every single region in Rakenzarn, which slowly reduce its life source. Cyril Region, where Kyuu is currently at, was also plagued.

The plague in the Cyril Region caused all the lakes of this region to dry up. Without water, the people in this region would die of thirst.

Thankfully, the region has a mythical Water Orb that can produce clean water. However, water alone isn't going to save the region. The plague in the region has become even stronger in power that it created a magical barrier that cut off the region from the rest of the world. To top it all off, monsters throughout the region have become increasingly aggressive and target the Water Orb.

No one knew where the plague came from even until this day.

After explaining the current crisis, Kyuu is silence for a while, feeling more concerned about everything that has happened. The boy then asks when the plague occurs, to which Kite answers that it happened a month ago and the barrier was formed a week ago.

Kyuu admits that Dark Magician Girl might be right. His arrival in this world and the book may be connected with the plague. There's no way they can just dismiss this is a mere coincidence or accident.

The boy eventually accepts Kite's and Dark Magician Girl's offer to help him.

Kite suddenly remembers something important and quickly say it straight at Kyuu.  
"By the way, you haven't told us your name yet. What's your name?"

"Kyuu… My name is Kyuu."

"Well, Kyuu," Kite reaches his hand toward Kyuu as Dark Magician Girl does the same, "Glad to meet you."

The three shakes their hands.

-/-

"So what do we do now?" Kyuu then asks.

"For starters, I think you should join a guild. We guilds in town, but you should join my guild, the Nutsy Guild," Kite answers.

"The… Nutsy Guild?" Kyuu is clearly baffled by the guild's odd name, but Dark Magician Girl, on the other hand, is surprised for a moment until she suddenly becomes very excited. "Y-You're with the Nutsy Guild?" Dark Magician Girl grabs Kite by his collar, "Wow! This must be fate! I actually want to join the Nutsy Guild! T-This is unbelievable! Can I join in too? Can I?" the blonde girl repeatedly asks Kite if she can join the Nutsy Guild in a rather excited tone that a child would do while shaking the .hack protagonist up and down rapidly.

Kyuu stares at Dark Magician Girl's sudden change of behavior and ponders what's going to happen next.

**Nutsy Guild**

The trio eventually enters a large building in the Guild District.

Once inside, they stumble into a lobby that looks more of a mix between a hotel lobby and a pub. It has tons of sofas and two large TV settings just around the uttermost left corner of the lobby.

"Here we are, everyone. Welcome to the Nutsy Guild."  
Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl see the large variety of characters in the guild.

First, they find a pair of anthromorphic ducks (one is a small, white duck in a sailor outfit and the other is a tall, black duck without any clothes) at the counter ordering drinks from an attractive young, blue-haired elf. Sitting next to the ducks, there are a blue anthromorphic hedgehog and a fat Italian plumber in red ordering some grubs, a chilidog and pasta. Kyuu immediately recognizes them as _**Donald Duck**_, _**Daffy Duck**_, _**Judith**_, _**Sonic the Hedgehog**_, and _**Mario**_ respectively.

"Whoa… Disney, Warner Bros., Namco, Sega, and Nintendo altogether?" Kyuu utters quietly that Dark Magician Girl or Kite can hear him. The boy is clearly in awe seeing some of the famous characters in media together in real person.

Next, Kyuu sees a certain bald man in a hunter's clothes is sweeping the floor with a broomstick. The boy immediately recognizes the man when the bald man starts to talk in an unsual way replacing his Rs and Ls with Ws. He is _**Elmer Fudd**_.

Nevertheless, the surprise doesn't end there just yet.  
Kyuu notices a certain green-skinned man in yellow suit and another man an unbuttoned Aloha shirt over a plain white A-shirt, with red and black striped trousers.

"_Whoa… __**The Mask**__ and __**Ace Ventura**__ too? Two Jim Carrey characters?"_

Next to the two Jim Carrey portrayal characters, Kyuu sees a large, muscle-bound, tanned-skin man with grey hair in a Hawaiian shirt and long pair of blue jeans. At first, Kyuu doesn't recognize him, but as soon as he looks at the man's face, he quickly remembers him as _**Super Macho Man**_.

Kyuu then notices a little anthromorphic fox with two tails entering a room nearby with two people behind him carrying boxes. One is a green Italian plumber similar to Mario albeit slimmer and taller while the other one is a man in tweed jacket and a skinny red tie with a teddy bear placed in his pocket.

The boy immediately recognizes the fox as _**Miles 'Tails' Prower**_ (nicknamed Tails), but the thing that surprises him the most is seeing the animated version of _**Mr. Bean**_ alongside Mario's brother, _**Luigi**_.

His eyes aren't lying at all. Those people in the Nutsy Guild are also famous fictional characters from the real world. Kyuu stares at the guild members interacting at each other with his jaws open a little.

Kite and Dark Magician Girl immediately notice the looks on Kyuu's face and they presume that the boy also recognizes the guild members. "Huh? Hey, look out!" Kite quickly grabs both Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl as the boy in red pulls them toward the wall just in time to evade something pass by spinning like crazy. The figure spins around like a tornado and nearly attacks everyone in the guild.

"INCOMING, BOYS!" Daffy shouts as he and Donald quickly hide behind the counter while Sonic and Mario merely jump with their respective delicacies in hand evading the tornado figure. Ace Ventura and Mask quickly leap away and jump into barrels hiding from the tornado figure. Thankfully, Tails, Bean, and Luigi quickly enter the room in time. "YIKES!" Super Macho Man comically screams as he jumps onto Elmer Fudd's arms. Unlike the boys, Judith is quite calm over the tornado figure because she clearly knows who it is and finds him harmless.

The tornado figure eventually stops spinning when it reaches a lone table near to the counter, which has a roasted chicken placed on it.

"Oooh, lemony fresh."

The tornado figure is actually the _**Tasmanian Devil**_.

"Wow… Now I really don't know what to say," Kyuu said in awe after seeing all the characters that he's familiar with from the real world.

"So there you are, Kite!" a voice suddenly calls out.  
The trio looks to their right and find five certain teenagers approaching them. Two of them are boys and the rest of the three are girls.

One boy is a tall, brown-haired boy in a black kimono and the tallest among the five. He appears quite handsome. The boy looks at Kite with a small smile on his face.

The other boy is slightly smaller than the brown-haired boy is. He appears to have gray hair and blue eyes. He wears a beret and a uniform that resembles a butler's uniform. The boy glances at the newcomers, Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl, with a sullen expression written on his face.

One girl is small and the smallest of the five, she has brown hair (her hairstyle is ponytail) and yellow eyes. She appears to be wearing a cute, red dress that's similar to what teenaged witches usually wear. She also looks at the newcomers, but with a smile.

The other girl is taller than the first girl in a short-skirted sailor fuku with the collar popped and red bloomers underneath. She has short, brown hair and brown eyes. Like the girl in the red dress, she glances at the two newcomers seemingly interested with them.

Finally, the last girl is the middle of the three girls (taller than the girl in red dress, but slightly smaller than the girl in the sailor fuku). She appears to have green eyes and long blond hair like Dark Magician Girl, but her hair is covered in her blue balmoral cap, making it seem like she has short hair. She appears to be wearing a blue military-like uniform with a short skirt and wears a pair of long pants.

"We've been looking all over for you, Kite," the girl in the red dress said as she approaches the .hack protagonist. She appears to be a bit upset, but she maintains her peaceful behavior.

"Sorry, I have to go somewhere," Kite apologetically said.

"Excuse me, but who are they?" the girl in blue meekly asks as she points at the two newcomers.

Kyuu is in awe to see the five characters since he clearly recognizes them. Kite then urges the boy and the magician to meet the five.

"_**Kanata**_, _**Kanon**_, _**Nina**_, _**Sakura**_, _**Noel**_. Meet our new members of the guild, Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl."

"Hi," Dark Magician Girl waves her hand at them with a smile.

Kyuu just stares at the five teenagers in awe knowing that he just met a group of both famous and infamous characters.

Little does Kyuu knows, his discovery of Rakenzarn, the meeting of Kite and Dark Magician Girl, and finally meeting Kanata Saionji, Kanon, Nina Sakura, Sakura Kasugano, and Noel Vermillion is just the beginning of a new, bigger, and exciting adventure…

_**End of Chapter**_

**-XX-**

**A/N:  
**This officially concludes Chapter 0, or should I say the Prologue.

The next chapter will show the real story and the beginning of a big adventure for Kyuu and his newfound friends in search for answers.

For the characters that make their debut in this chapter are listed below:  
- _**Dark Magician Girl**_, the attractive blonde-haried magician from **Yu-Gi-Oh!**  
- _**Kanata Saionji**_, the male protagonist of the comedy manga/anime, **Daa! Daa! Daa!** (or **UFO Baby**).  
- _**Kanon**_, the young servant and one of the main characters from **Umineko no Naku Koro ni**.  
- _**Nina Sakura**_, the cute, perky protagonist from the romantic comedy manga/anime, **Ultra Maniac**.  
- _**Sakura Kasugano**_, the happy, energetic schoolgirl from the hit game series, **Street Fighter**.**  
**- _**Noel Vermillion**_, the female protagonist from the fighting game series, **Blazblue**.

These five characters, along with Kyuu, Kite, and Dark Magician Girl, will be the main characters of this story and soon form a certain group.

As for the other characters that appear in the Nutsy Guild:  
- _**Donald Duck**_, the primary duck/one of the main characters from **Disney** and Mickey Mouse's friend and, sometimes, rival.  
- _**Daffy Duck**_, the world's favorite duck from **Warner Bros.**, who we love to see getting tortured.  
- _**Sonic the Hedgehog**_, the superfast blue hedgehog and titular main character of his game series, Sega's **Sonic the Hedgehog**.  
- _**Mario**_, the titular main character from his series, Nintendo's **Mario**.  
- _**Judith**_, a young, mysterious woman who's a member of the Kritya tribe. She's from **Tales of Vesperia**.  
- _**Elmer Fudd**_, the not-very-bright hunter from the **Looney Tunes** cartoon who speaks in an unusual way.  
- The Mask, the titular crazy green-faced 'superhero' in yellow suit from the **Darkhorse comics**, his style is based from the Tex Avery cartoon effects. Like Ace Ventura, he is played by Jim Carrey in the live-action movie.  
- _**Ace Ventura**_, the titular pet detective, he is a bit crazy like the Mask and has animal friends especially his sidekick, Spike the monkey. Like The Mask, he is played by Jim Carrey in the live-action movies.  
- _**Super Macho Man**_, the stereotypical muscle builder from the game, **Punch-out**.  
- _**Tails**_, the two-tailed fox who is a genius mechanic from **Sonic the Hedgehog**.  
- _**Luigi**_, the younger brother of **Mario**.  
- _**Mr. Bean**_, the titular clumsy, selfish man (the cartoon version) played by the famous Rowan Atkinson.  
- _**Tasmanian Devil**_, simply known as '_**Taz**_', is a dimwitted carnivore with a notoriously short temper and little patience from the **Looney Tunes** cartoons.

The following list is the characters that make their cameo appearances:  
- _**Wario**_, the doppelganger of **Mario** who's actually an anti-hero, always scheming for money.  
- _**Waluigi**_, the doppelganger of Luigi who's also from the **Mario** series. Like his brother, Wario, he's anti hero.  
- _**Amoeba Boys**_, the gang of amoebae from the cartoon series, **Powerpuff Girls**. Unlike most villains in the cartoons, they're the least malicious villains. They appear as wanted posters with the lowest price (even lower than the Toilenator).


	3. Chapter 1: Joining the Guild

**DISCLAIMER**: I don't own some of characters in the story. The characters that will appear in this fic are owned by their respective owners. There will also be OCs that are owned by their respective authors.

-/-

_Now the true story begins._

_Our main character and his new friends… Kite, Dark Magician Girl, Kanata Saionji, Kanon, Sakura Kasugano, Nina Sakura, and Noel Vermillion… That meeting was just the turning point of the story's chronicles._

_The first saga begins immediately._

**Rakenzarn Tales**

**-/-**

**-Cyril region-  
Densel Town**

**Nutsy Guild**

In the lobby of the guild, our protagonist of the story Kyuu (holding his mysterious book), along with Kite and Dark Magician Girl (holding her wand), meet the five certain characters who are about the same age as the trio.

The DDS boy stares at the five in awe since he recognizes them from the real world.

"Uuhh… Hi there," Kyuu waves his hand at the five following Dark Magician Girl's example. The group responds by waving their hands back at the two. The girls and Kanata smile though the boy in the kimono's smile is slightly smaller. Kanon, on the other hand, waves his hand with a blank expression.

"And everybody!" Kite suddenly yells to catch the attention of the following guild members that are in the lobby: Donald, Daffy, Sonic, Mario, Judith, Elmer, Ace, Mask, Super Macho Man, and Taz.

Tails, Luigi, and Mr. Bean soon exit from a room nearby joining up with the rest of the guild members.

"We got two new members here!" Kite then glances toward Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl whispering, "C'mon, you two. Introduce yourselves."

Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl glance back at Kite, who nods at them urging the two to introduce themselves to the guild. Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl acknowledge as they glance at the guild members in the front. The group around the trio step aside to the left to make ways for Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl so the guild members can see them clearly.

"Hi there, I-I'm Kyuu."  
"Hello, I'm Dark Magician Girl, nice to meet you."

The guild members welcome the two in unison calling them by their respective names.

"Well, that went smoothly."

-Chapter 1-  
-Joining the Guild-

In order to join the guild, Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl meet up with a certain man who is the Vice Guildmaster. The man appears to be very short and has six dots on his forehead, which are actually scars from moxibustion burns similar to the pattern that appear on Shaolin monks' foreheads. The man wears a red Mao suit with an armband, which is actually the guild's logo (it has a large initial 'G' on it with a regular-sized 'N' passing through the G letter) strapped on his right arm. He's currently holding a board and a pen in his hands.

Kyuu clearly recognizes the short man, but before he can even mention the character's name, the man introduces himself as _**Krillin**_.

Accompanying Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl are Kite and his friends (Kanata, Kanon, Sakura, Nina, and Noel) standing next to the two. The ducks, Donald and Daffy, are there too standing next to Krillin.

"So you two want to join the guild, huh?" Krillin kindly asks. Both Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl nod in unison.

"Oh brother, not more kids," Daffy places his hand on his forehead in a disdain tone, "And we've already got a lot of kids just now." Kyuu turns around facing Kite and his friends knowing that the black duck is referring to them. "We should change our guild name to 'Babysitting Guild' while we're at it," Daffy sarcastically remarks.

"Daffy!" Donald glares at Daffy.  
"Don't look at me, Donald ol' pal. Just look at 'em," Daffy Duck then looks at Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl intending to explain his dislike over the two.

First among the two, Daffy points at Kyuu. "Look at 'im, he looks so frail! I bet he couldn't even beat an Oompa Loompa."

Daffy then points at Dark Magician Girl. "And her, she's probably another 'Dumb Blonde' stereotype. We're gonna have TWO Dumb Blondes!" Daffy yells aloud referring the second 'Dumb Blonde' to Noel Vermillion.  
"That's gonna ruin our image!"

"…I'm a 'Dumb Blonde,' huh?" Dark Magician Girl utters in a threatening tone. The magician points her wand at the duck and she shouts, "**BLIZZARD!**" The wand shoots a large chunk of ice directly into the black duck, which causes everyone to lean backwards while Krillin and Donald lean left and right respectively distancing away from the black duck. Daffy yelps in a comical manner before the Blizzard magic freezes the duck.

The female magician, with an annoyed look written all over her face, calmly moves toward the frozen solid duck and uppercuts him into the air. The black duck crashes to the ground and knock out in the process.

"And come on! Not all blondes are dummies!" Dark Magician Girl retorts at the unconscious duck.

Krillin and Donald stare at the unconscious Daffy with their eyes dotted before they glance back at the DDS boy and the magician. "Don't mind too much about him," Krillin said to Dark Magician Girl, "So you two wanna join in, huh? I don't see why not."

"Isn't that right, guys?" Krillin asks Kite and his friends, which the six of them agree.

"But only if you two pass the Guild Tests," Krillin suddenly said as he faces back at the two.

"Guild… Tests?" Kyuu is rather surprised to hear that. From the look on his face, everyone can easily guess that he doesn't know anything about the Guild Test.

"You see, every guild has one similar rule to newcomers to see if they're worthy to be part of the guild or not," Krillin explains while checking on his board in hand, "If you two wanna join the Nutsy Guild, you have to pass the tests."

"Not to mention, each guild has different tests. Our guild only has three tests," Donald adds.

"I see… But what happens if I fail?" Kyuu asks.

"Umm… That's the problem," Noel suddenly speaks while looking down on the ground with a troubled expression, which makes Kyuu feel rather uneasy. "Then you have to come back next year," Kanata suddenly answers Kyuu's question much to his surprise.

"Yeah, if you mess up even one test, you instantly fail. No exception," Donald adds again, which makes Kyuu feel even more nervous.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Dark Magician Girl said to Kyuu as she playfully bumps her elbow on the boy's right shoulder, "It's only three tests, it should be quick. I mean, how hard can it be?"

"Right, the last time a newcomer said that before he failed the test," Kanata suddenly recalls that certain event much to Dark Magician Girl's dismay. Now the young magician feels nervous like Kyuu. Fortunately, she and the DDS boy quickly regain their confidence and focus on the tests.

Krillin tells the two about their first test.  
Kyuu's first test will take place at the second floor in the second door to the right while Dark Magician Girl's will be at the third floor in the first door to the left.

"Wait, what about him?" Dark Magician Girl suddenly points at Daffy Duck, who's still lying on the ground unconscious. "Nah, don't worry about him," Kyuu said as he suddenly grabs the girl by her arm and they both move toward the staircases in the front, "He's Daffy Duck, he's used to get hurt all the time."

Once Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl go up the stairs, Krillin glances at Kite, "You know, you got one interesting kid there," the Vice Guildmaster remarks about the newcomer, Kyuu. The .hack protagonist just smiles and nods his head. Krillin then glances back at the still-unconscious Daffy on the ground and asks if anyone can take him to the Med Room. Luigi and Taz volunteer to do so.

Kanon is rather silent. The seemingly sullen boy stares at the staircases probably thinking about the newcomer, Kyuu. Noel quickly notices Kanon so she decides to talk to him.

"Kanon, is something wrong?"  
"…It's about that boy. Something about him bothers me."  
"Huh? What is it about him bothers you?"

"…From the look of his face and what he just said about that idiot," Kanon said referring the 'idiot' Daffy as he glances at Noel, "It seems that he knows him. In fact, he seems to know us. That's what bothers me." The silent boy's answer seems to bother Noel too. She suddenly turns her attention to Donald Duck since the short duck is close friends with Daffy Duck.

"Mr. Donald, is Mr. Daffy familiar with that boy?" Noel asks.

"Huh?" Donald turns his attention to Noel, "Whaddya mean? Daffy never met that kid before. If he did, he would've told me about him a long time ago."

Now Noel is even more surprised and begins to share Kanon's suspicion with the newcomer.  
"Umm, guys," Kite suddenly calls Kanon and Noel along with the other three.

While Kite gathers his friends around, Krillin immediately approaches Donald and tells him to go somewhere in the basement…

-/-

Kyuu reaches the second floor while Dark Magician Girl continues to go up the stairs to the third floor.

The boy from the real world walks his way through the hall to the right until he finally reaches the door where his first test will take place. However, the boy gets nervous again when the feeling of failing begins to trouble his mind again. He immediately shoves it aside since even if he fails, he still has another chance next and it's not much of a big loss. The important thing is to find answer regarding the mysterious book.

Glancing back at the book in hands, Kyuu regains his confidence.

"_Okay…"_ Kyuu prepares to knock the door… _"Here we go."_

Kyuu knocks on the door. A voice from beyond the door answers, "Come in."

Once Kyuu opens the door, he finds the room inside is quite small and empty as well. In the middle of the seemingly empty room is a lone table with a kerosene lamp on it. Sitting on the table's chair is a dark purple-cloaked figure. Darkness shrouds his face. Underneath his cloak is a black shirt.

"So, you must be one of the newcomers," the cloaked figure suddenly said as Kyuu closes the door behind. From the sound of his masculine voice, the figure appears to be male.

"Come, sit down," the cloaked man urges Kyuu to sit down on a chair, which is in the opposite position of the man's chair.

"Wanna join the guild, huh?"  
"Yeah… Despite the weird name," Kyuu sits down on the chair.

"Very well," the figure places his arms around the table glancing at the boy, "First of all, what's your name?"

"Kyuu."

"Kyuu, huh? I'd like to ask you a few questions. Please, answer them honestly. The first question… Why do you wish to join the Nutsy Guild?"

The DDS boy thinks about it for a while. He may want to answer that Kite is the one who prompts him to join the guild, but after giving it some more thoughts, he develops another answer for it.

"…To find my answers."

"Huh, an unusual answer," the man expresses a quite surprised reaction as he lowers his head looking at the table, "Being truthful with your answer. Are you a fool… Or something even better?"

"Huh?"  
"Nevermind, forget what I just said."

"Now for my next question…" the cloaked man lifts his head staring at the boy with his seemingly unseen face, "Imagine yourself in this situation. You have been sent on a very dangerous mission with your fellow teammates. However, all your teammates are injured, you're weapons are completely destroyed, and you have no mean of defense. To top it all off, you're outnumbered. What would you do?"

"What would I do? Honestly, I'm more concerned with my teammates but I don't want to die either. I say I'd find another way out of that situation without sacrificing my team and myself, evading the enemies."

A moment of silence fills the atmosphere…

"Last question," the cloaked man finally speaks.  
"This is a very important question… Who are you?"

"Who… Who am I?"

"…"

"Honestly, I don't really get your point."

Another moment of silence fills the room…

"…And that's the end of the first test," the cloaked man suddenly said much to Kyuu's surprise.  
"Now then, kid, go to the basement and find a door labeled 'Training Room.' Your next test is right there."

"Umm… Okay," Kyuu then stands up.

"_Weird, I didn't even answer the question and he just let me go?"_

When Kyuu is about to turn around to leave the room, the cloaked man asks the boy to wait for a moment because he has something to say. However, it's a cryptic message: "Every living being has its beginning… And its end…"

"Uhh, yeah, I guess so," Kyuu nervously said back as he turns around facing the door, "I mean… Not all things can go on forever, that's for sure." The boy then exits the room through the door.

The cloaked man slowly stands up as he begins to chuckle.  
"Well, that was fun, but that kid…"

The man takes off his hood revealing his true face: he appears to be quite young probably in his early 20s and, oddly enough, has long black hair.

"That's one interesting kid. Looks like this year's gonna be interesting after all."

-/-

Kyuu walks his way through the stairs until he reaches the basement.  
From the staircase, the door with the label 'Training Room' is to the right.

"_Well, here it is,"_ Kyuu calmly walks toward the door having the feeling that he is going to pass the tests.

Kyuu immediately enters the room. The Training Room almost resembles a dojo completed with its wooden floor, training equipment, and practice dummies throughout the room.

Upon entry in the Training Room, the boy senses a sudden presence standing next to him. He quickly retaliates by sliding backwards just in time to evade a punch. Once he distances from his attacker, he has the clear view on the attacker's appearance: it appears to be a large green-skinned man with long, sharp ears. He covers his head with a turban. His outfit appears to be a blue karate gi with a white cape. In his right arm is an armband with the guild's logo on it.

The boy is surprised to see the identity of his attacker.

"P-P-P… _**Piccolo**_!"

Unlike the rest of the characters that Kyuu had met, the character from the Dragon Ball series doesn't seem to be surprised that the boy knows him. "Hmm, so you heard of me from the others," Piccolo said in a monotone voice.

"You managed to dodge my punch," Piccolo stares at Kyuu for a while and notices that the boy is an Arxus Rogue. Afterwards, Piccolo turns his back on the boy, "But you're not fast enough. If I were to swing my fist faster, I would've punched you right on the face. Like this!" Piccolo throws his fist on the wall cracking it a little much to Kyuu's surprise and scares him. "You get thirty-five points."

The DDS boy is shaking in fear knowing that the green-skinned man in front of him is indeed Piccolo from Dragon Ball Z. The Namekian walks to the middle of the room. Piccolo prompts Kyuu to come closer. However, Kyuu stands there as he's still shaking in fear staring at the Namekian.

"What're you standing there for?" Piccolo asks with a serious look on his face, "Aren't you taking the test?"

"O-Oh, r-right," Kyuu startles a bit from the sound of his stuttering tone. The boy slowly walks toward Piccolo. "Hehe, y-you know… Your surprise attack kinda scare me for the moment there," Kyuu nervously said until he finally gets close to Piccolo.

The Namekian closes his eyes while keeping his serious expression.  
"…Hmph, ten points," Piccolo suddenly said much to Kyuu's surprise.

"W-Wait what? Are you reducing my score?"

"Are you a fool?" Piccolo suddenly opens his eyes and points his index finger at Kyuu, "You allowed yourself to be intimidated by your enemies. They'll seize the opportunity to take you down." The green-skinned 'alien' slowly lowers his arm while glaring at the DDS boy, "A leader must always be prepared for anything."

"O… Oh come on!" Kyuu yells aloud after finally taking up his courage to stand up against the fearsome Piccolo, "That's not fair! Can't you just go easy on me?"

"In battle, there is no time for cowardice or incompetence," Piccolo said with a monotone voice.

"Now… If you're ready, we'll begin the next test," Piccolo suddenly throws his cape aside and takes his turban off revealing a pair of antennas on his head, "Face me."

"Face you? In combat?"  
"Isn't it obvious, kid? All you have to do is face me. If you can scratch me even a little bit, you pass."

"But first, you should put that book away," Piccolo points at the mysterious book in Kyuu's hand. The boy does exactly what Piccolo told him, he places the book at a small table at the upper left corner of the room.

The boy becomes even more uneasy since he has to fight Piccolo next. Not to mention, Kyuu doesn't even know how to fight. The boy turns his face away from Piccolo thinking what to do next. Eventually, Kyuu faces back at the Namekian. "You are gonna go easy on me, right?" Kyuu nervously asks with a goofy smile as he approaches Piccolo for the next test.

"On the contrary, I will NOT hold back!" Piccolo shouts much to Kyuu's dismay.  
"I hate holding back on newcomers like you, so prepare yourself!"

Piccolo suddenly dashes toward Kyuu.  
The boy hysterically yelps as he attempts to dodge, but the green-skinned alien moves very fast that he's already close to the boy before he can even react. Piccolo throws a heavy punch directly at Kyuu's stomach. The impact is incredibly painful for the boy that it forces him to kneel on the ground looking down on the floor.

The young Arxus Rogue holds his stomach in pain. If Kyuu's a normal human right now, that punch would've killed him. Thankfully, the boy is entirely changed due to the mysterious book.

"Get up," Piccolo's voice rings in the boy's ears.  
Kyuu slowly lifts his head up and finds Piccolo standing in the front with his arms crossed. "Is that all you got? If you want to pass this test, then get up!"

"…_I-I can't!"_ Kyuu lowers his head again. He finds it impossible to fight someone like Piccolo. He knows who Piccolo is from the real world and he knows that he can't win against the Dragon Ball character. The boy decides that he should give up right now even though it means he is going to fail the test.

Just when the boy is about to signal his defeat, Piccolo suddenly yells at him.  
"I said get up! Are you telling me you're this weak that you can even take a punch? Are you giving up already?"

From that moment, Kyuu recalls something important to him, something that he almost forgot ever since he arrives in Rakenzarn.

"…Give up…" Kyuu slowly begins to stand up starting by raising his legs, "I don't think so… I almost forgot what he once told me…" The boy eventually stands on his two legs and lifts his head forward facing at Piccolo, "He told me…"

"_If the detective gives up, then the crime will remain unsolved."_

"_Sure I'm far away from home… And I probably am not a detective in this world… But… I still remember it. In other words…"_

Kyuu lifts his hands forming into fists.  
"If I give up, then the answers will never be found! Yeah, I'm not giving up just yet!"

"Hmph, that's more like it," Piccolo utters with his seemingly serious face. "Then come, show me what you got, kid."

"Right!" Kyuu dashes toward Piccolo in an effort to throw a punch at him.  
Piccolo steps to the left easily evading to boy's assault, but when he attempts to counterattack with a punch, he quickly notices a small glimmer of blue light engulfing the boy's left arm. The Namekian interprets it as danger, so he immediately slides backward in time when Kyuu suddenly throws a punch.

The blue light fades revealing a crimson colored gauntlet in his left hand.

Kyuu throws another punch toward Piccolo, but the Namekian easily holds the boy's gauntlet. However, the force of his fist is actually stronger than it looks. It actually hurts Piccolo's hand a bit. If Piccolo didn't block that attack, it would've hurt him even more.

"Is that all you got, kid?" Piccolo is about to counter with a quick jab, but the boy suddenly breaks free from the green-skinned alien's grasp and slides backward in such a fast speed. The Namekian is a bit surprised when he notices that the boy's speed changes drastically. _"Hmm… So this is the power of an Arxus Rogue,"_ Piccolo thought as he glances at Kyuu.

"_But why didn't he use it in the first place?"_

"H-Here goes!" Kyuu yells aloud as another blue light shines on his right arm. The light fades away in a minute and it reveals another gauntlet in the boy's right hand albeit turquoise. The boy dashes toward Piccolo as the Namekian dashes toward the boy as well.

-/-

Meanwhile, outside the 'Training Room' just across the hallway, Dark Magician Girl is there.

Obviously, the young magician had just passed the first test and her next test is supposed to be in a room with the label 'Next Magic' on the door.

"_Geez… After bombarding me with some boring questions, now he's asking me to go all the way down here?"_  
Dark Magician Girl walks through the hall in the opposite direction of the 'Training Room.' She eventually reaches the end of the hallway and a door with the label 'Next Magic' is there. The door itself seems rather new due to its cleaner exterior as if the door and the room behind it are brand new.

Unlike Kyuu, Dark Magician Girl is rather calm as she's full of confident, confident enough that she will pass the tests.

As soon as she opens the door, she finds a rather a large, empty room.  
In the middle of the room, there is a giant creature that spooks the young magician. The creature turns out to have muscular body of a man with a head of a bull and muscular arms.

"A-A… A Minotaur!" the girl yelps in fear seeing the fearsome creature. She is about to turn around and run out of the door, but there's something that grabs her attention. A certain small individual is standing in front of the creature apparently lecturing the giant monster. To her surprise, she recognizes the individual from the lobby upstairs.

"…Mr. Donald?"

The individual, Donald Duck, turns around and sees the blonde girl. "Oh, hey there," Donald greets the newcomer as he approaches her. The Minotaur just stands there until it sits down on the floor.

"So… This is where my next test?" Dark Magician Girl asks, Donald responds with a nod.  
"Oookay… But one thing…" the girl then points at the large Minotaur, "What in the world is THAT thing doing here!"

"Oh him? You mean Snowball?" Donald looks back at the giant Minotaur, "Don't worry about him, he's harmless."

"…Snowball?"  
"Yeah, he's Super Macho Man's pet."

Dark Magician Girl is speechless since she doesn't know what to say about the fact the Minotaur is the muscle-bound, Super Macho Man's pet. Her only reaction is scratching her head.

"Anyway, now that you're here, it's time for the second test," Donald said.  
The short white duck quickly steps aside and snaps his finger signaling the Minotaur to stand up. The female magician immediately gets the picture of the next test. At first, she thought she's going to face the Minotaur in combat. Technically, it is the next test.

Donald explains that Dark Magician Girl needs to use her magic to inflict a few scratches on the Minotaur until the white duck calls the fight off. She is allowed to use any kind of spells that she knows either the basic or the more advanced spells. However, she will fail the test if the Minotaur manages to grab her. It may sounds easy, but Super Macho Man's pet Minotaur is skilled in combat.

With that in mind, Dark Magician Girl needs to be more creative in using her magic. She just needs to damage the Minotaur a bit, not entirely defeat it.

"If you're ready," Donald prepares to snap his fingers, "We'll begin the test."

The girl holds out her wand, higher pointing directly at the Minotaur who cracks its knuckles preparing to fight her. "I'm ready, no use backing out now," she said.

Donald snaps his fingers signaling the fight.

The Minotaur charges forth attempting to deliver a punch.  
Dark Magician Girl is quick to react by rolling to the left evading successfully from the Minotaur's assault.

Once she gets out of its range, Dark Magician Girl points her wand at the Minotaur from the left side. Her wand's end begins to emit a soft, black light from it. "**Dark Burning Attack**!" she unleashes a large, sphere-shaped energy at the Minotaur. However, the giant creature deflects the black energy with a swing of its arm.

She's quite surprised that the monster manages to deflect her magic. The monster then dashes at her once again. Thankfully, the creature moves rather slow giving her much time to evade the monster, as she is surprisingly agile.

She holds her wand with both her hands while her left hand raises two fingers (index and middle fingers).  
As a final gesture, her right hand raises her index finger. Pillars of flame rise in front of her, which blocks the Minotaur's trail. The giant creature quickly leans backward until another wall of flames appears behind it. The two sides then smash the Minotaur burning its body but remains standing.

The collision of the flaming walls stuns the giant monster leaving it defenseless. Dark Magician Girl lifts her wand higher while shouting, "**Thunder!**" It summons a large bolt of lightning from above the ceiling striking at the Minotaur, which further damages the creature.

Now that the monster is finally taking damage, the young magician takes a step further by moving forward and places the top of her wand into the ground while chanting in a quiet tone. After finishing the chant, the ground beneath the monster suddenly freezes causing the Minotaur to slip over due to its slipperiness. Dark Magician Girl then raises her wand and summons a large boulder above the Minotaur. The boulder then smashes onto the monster.

The Minotaur quickly stands up despite the severe damages it suffers.

Dark Magician Girl waves her wand in circle calling forth the wind from her wand. She hurls furious wind at the Minotaur, but to her surprise, the wind has no effect toward the monster at all when the giant creature immediately covers its body with its muscular arms.

The monster immediately charges toward the girl attempting to grab her, but she manages to evade it by rolling to the right.

From the monster's right side, Dark Magician Girl lifts her wand higher while shouting, "**Thunder!**" Again, it summons a large bolt of lightning from above the ceiling. Surprisingly, the Minotaur rolls backward evading the lightning bolt. The creature then rolls forward attempting to grab the young magician.

Quick to react, Dark Magician Girl evades the monster's grasp and she quickly places the top of her wand into the ground while chanting in a quiet tone. The ground beneath the monster freezes again. Unfortunately, the Minotaur jumps backward evading the frozen ground in time. The Minotaur then dashes toward the girl again in attempt to capture her. In retaliation, she summons a wall made out of rocks blocking the creature's trail.

The young magician realizes that the Minotaur is adapting to her magic allowing it to evade and counterattack.  
She quickly runs backward distancing away from the monster before the wall disappears. The monster continues its pursuit over the female magician.

When the giant monster is closer, the magician quickly points her wand at the Minotaur and yells, "**Fire!**"  
Her wand releases two sets of flames at the creature even though the Minotaur blocks the flames with its enormous arms while it's charging toward her. With the flames distracting the beast, Dark Magician Girl quickly runs under its enormous feet passing through the monster.

She quickly turns around facing the Minotaur by its back. Aiming for its back, her wand's top begins to emit a soft, black light from it. "**Dark Burning Attack**!" she unleashes a large, sphere-shaped energy at the Minotaur's back. The impact sends the monster hurling across the room and crashes at the wall.

However, the monster suddenly steps down from the wall and fixes its eyes on Dark Magician Girl.

"This is bad…"

The fight continues again.  
It becomes tense as Dark Magician Girl goes all-out with the Minotaur casting all the magic spells she knows at the giant creature. However, the monster continues to find a way to evade her magic and attempts to catch her though she manages to evade from capture.

Her sets of spells consist of using Thunder, Ice, and Earth spells, but the result remains the same. She tries a different set of spells, but it still the same as the monster predicts her spells' movement.

After feels seemingly like forever, Dark Magician Girl begins to run out of ideas since the Minotaur has evades most of the spells she knows.

The female magician evades the monster until she ends up being backed into the uttermost right corner of the room with the Minotaur running towards her.

Dark Magician Girl summons another wall of fire to block its way, but much to her surprise, the Minotaur rolls forward in time to evade the fiery walls before the flames rises up from the ground. With the wall of fires behind it, the Minotaur continues its way toward Dark Magician Girl.

The giant monster eventually reaches the magician. As soon as it reaches its enormous hand around her waist, she suddenly leaps up into the air evading the Minotaur's hand in time. However, that is not the thing surprising the Minotaur and even Donald in the room… Dark Magician Girl actually flies into the air.

She literally flies upward and reaches the monster's face.

Glancing at the attractive young girl, the Minotaur stares at the girl eye-to-eye until Dark Magician Girl immediately points her wand at the monster's face and shouts, "**BLIZZARD!**" The wand then shoots a large chunk of ice directly into the face freezing it. The monster jumps as it leans backward. In a comical moment, the monster punches its own face to break the frozen ice on its face and it unwittingly causes much pain on itself.

The Minotaur groans painfully until it steps on a frozen ground that Dark Magician Girl has set up before. The monster yelps as it falls backward.

"And stop!" Donald finally shouts as soon as Dark Magician Girl lands on the floor.

"Well, you pass the test!" Donald approaches the girl and shakes her hand, "Congratulations!"

"T-Thanks," Dark Magician Girl said back with a smile keeping her calm demeanor although exhausted. She looks back at the giant Minotaur who's still lying on the ground. "You're actually skilled with your magic. I mean, not just your magic, but your maneuvers too," Donald compliments regarding the young magician's skill in magic and her physical talents.

"Anyway, go back upstairs and meet Judith, she'll give you the next test," Donald tells Dark Magician Girl. The girl kindly bows her head at the short duck and walks out of the room.

Once she steps outside the room, she suddenly hears a boy screaming in pain just across the room…

-/-

Back at the 'Training Room,' Kyuu is having trouble; his fight with Piccolo isn't getting better.  
The green-skinned alien remains dominant over the fight as he easily evades the boy's attacks despite his increased speed thanks to the crimson gauntlets in his hands.

In fact, Piccolo has just punched Kyuu by his stomach when the boy gets dangerously close to the green-skinned alien causing the DDS boy to scream aloud in pain.

For the past ten minutes, Kyuu tries his best to deliver even a single punch though the results remain the same.  
Piccolo evades but, oddly enough, never attempts to counterattack.

Throwing various punches, Kyuu desperately tries to punch Piccolo even though his aims are way off. The boy nearly lands a punch directly into Piccolo's abdomen, but the Namekian manages to hold the boy's fist with only his right arm. The Namekian then counters with a chop on the boy's head. It's painful enough that it causes the boy to kneel followed by having his hands on the ground as well.

The boy is clearly exhausted as he pants and sweats rapidly. He struggles to get up again, but his body can't take enough pressure anymore. Because of it, blue lights begin to shine in both his arms and when it fades, the gauntlets are gone as well. The Namekian just stands at where he is now staring down at the boy with a blank expression.

Kyuu eventually begins to stand up again.

"Oh no…" Kyuu holds out both his fists preparing to fight again, "I… I can't…"

"…Seventy Points," Piccolo suddenly said much to Kyuu's surprise.

"What… Did you say?" Kyuu asks. From the tone of his voice, he is still exhausted. The Namekian suddenly tosses a small glass bottle, with a cork bung on it, at the boy, which our protagonist surprisingly manages to catch it with his bare hands. Piccolo urges the boy to drink it. Kyuu drinks it until it's empty. In seconds, it suddenly cures the boy out of his fatigue and now he's healthy again.

"Uuhh… Thanks," Kyuu utters with a hint of stuttering.

"But… Did you just raise my points?"

"You passed the test, kid," the green-skinned character holds out both his fists and opens up his hands revealing his palms. To Kyuu's surprise, the boy notices slight bruises on the Namekian's palms. Piccolo then said, "Points for giving me a few scratches."

"But," Piccolo lowers his left arm and points his right arm at the boy, "Even in a losing battle, you're not backing it down and continue to attack me. That is another point."

Kyuu looks down at the palm of his hand for a while before he goes to the upper left corner of the room to retrieve his book. Once he has the mysterious book in his hand, Kyuu returns to Piccolo.

"Thanks," Kyuu utters.

The Namekian turns his back on Kyuu with his eyes close.  
"I don't need any thank… Now go back to the lobby and talk to Judith, she'll give you the next test."

"Y-Yes sir!" Kyuu comically salutes at the Namekian.

Just when Kyuu is about to turn to the door, Piccolo suddenly appears in front of the boy. Kyuu is well prepared this time as he's ready to dodge. However, Piccolo doesn't seem to be attacking just yet, he just stares at the boy directly at his eyes.

For a brief moment, they do nothing but staring at each other until Piccolo moves aside.  
"Seems you're far more prepared than earlier. You're looking more like a warrior," Piccolo said.

Kyuu just shrugs it and walks his way to the door. He then exits the 'Training Room.'

Piccolo glances at the door.

"_That boy… He is an Arxus Rogue, but he doesn't have an experience of a fighter. But that sheer determination of his…"_

-/-

Upon stepping outside the 'Training Room,' Kyuu sighs as he leans his back on the door.

It was unexpected for the boy since he had to face Piccolo for the second test. The boy has already come across several fictional characters and he has just met another famous character, let alone one of the most powerful ones in the world.

Now that he thinks about it, he recalls the Vice Guildmaster is Krillin. That gives Kyuu a clue to the identity of the Guildmaster…

"Kyuu?"  
"Huh?"

The boy turns to his left and sees Dark Magician Girl.

"Oh, hey there," Kyuu greets the girl waving his hand at her, who in turn waves her hand back at him.  
"What're you doing down here?"

"Isn't it obvious? My second test is here," Dark Magician Girl said as she points her index finger down on the ground, "I pass the test. What about you?" The boy answers her question by nodding his head.

"But not without a few bruises," Kyuu adds as he wraps right arm around his body from his abdomen to his waist.

As they begin to walk back to the staircase just across the hall, the DDS boy and the young magician talk with each other about their experiences in the Guild Tests. The young magician starts to talk her part of the Guild Tests, which Kyuu finds it very intriguing and great to the point that the boy praises her achievement. The girl finds his compliment flatter.

Now it is Kyuu's turn though he's a bit reluctant to tell his experience due to the fact he fares worse than Dark Magician Girl. However, the young magician urges him to tell his part.

Kyuu tells her about his part of the Guild Tests. He explains clearly in every single event in clear detail without seemingly off, which makes his story telling seem much longer than Dark Magician Girl's. Despite being rather long, the way the boy explains catches the girl's attention that she doesn't feel bore that much. She sympathizes to the boy over his misfortunes in the tests. She actually admires his sheer determination even the odds are against him.

The pair eventually reaches the staircase.

From there, they discover that their next and final tests require meeting the same person through the end of their conversation.

"Hey, Kyuu," the girl suddenly calls the boy by his name as they both go up the stairs slowly.  
"There's something I want to ask you," she said to the boy. A certain part of Kyuu's Guild Tests catches her attention.

"You mentioned something that inspired you. Someone told you, 'If the detective gives up, then the crime will remain unsolved.' Just who is it that told you?"

That single question causes Kyuu to become silent. The boy stops in his trail as they're halfway to the end of the stairs. His usual cheerful expression changes to somewhat depressed as he turns his head to the left facing at the wall. Dark Magician Girl finds part of her answer just by his saddened expression. "I'm… Sorry," the girl takes back her question telling the DDS boy to forget her question. The boy tells her that it's all right.

After a moment of silence, Dark Magician Girl looks up the stairs seeing the light leading to the lobby.

"You know, we should hurry," she said to the DDS boy, "We're almost done with the tests."

Kyuu then faces away from the wall looking directly at Dark Magician Girl, eye to eye.

In response, the boy nods prompting the both of them to continue going up.

-/-

The pair returns to the lobby.  
Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl immediately approach the counter where the attractive elf-like woman, Judith, awaits.

Surprisingly for the pair, Kite and his friends (Kanata, Kanon, Nina, Sakura, and Noel) are also at the counter seemingly waiting for the result of their tests.

"Glad to see the two of you made it," Kanon remarks their success through the two tests. Nina approaches the two and shakes their hands simultaneously while saying, "Congratulations! I'm glad that you manage to pass them!"

"Yeeaahhh…" Kyuu utters nervously as he let and Dark Magician Girl let go of Nina's hands before he puts his hand around his head, "Not without a few bruises, of course…"

Don't go congratulating them just yet," Kanata suddenly said as Nina let go both Kyuu's and Dark Magician Girl's hands, "They're not out of the woods yet. They still have one more test."

"Okay, so what's our next test?" Dark Magician Girl kindly asks turning her attention to the attractive young woman of the Kritya tribe.

Judith turns her attention to the young magician and holds out a strange stone closer to the magician. From the look of its appearance, it appears to be a dark igneous rock with yellow linings forming a pair of pentagons both in the opposite positions of each other.

The woman explains about Dark Magician Girl's next test: she needs to identify the stone since it is actually a magical object. Every mage has to know a lot about magical objects throughout Rakenzarn. It may sound like an easy task for a mage like Dark Magician Girl, but the magic item in Judith's hands is actually a rare item and it is identical to four other magic items. Due to its uncanny resemblances, it'll be difficult to extinguish between them.

The test's deadline is until sunset but if Dark Magician Girl gives the wrong answer, she'll fail the test.

Upon hearing her test, Dark Magician Girl becomes increasingly nervous. Even though her skill in magic is great, she's still learning magic item appraisal.

Right after Judith hands over the stone to Dark Magician Girl, she turns her attention to Kyuu. First, she asks the boy if he likes detective works. Coincidentally, the boy does love detective works since he, himself, is a junior detective from an academy that educates students to be ace detectives. Judith then hands over two paper sheets.

One of the papers shows a picture of a Victorian styled room, possibly inside a mansion of a noble family due to its noble interior designs. From the looks of the room, it appears to be the lounge. In the middle of the room, a nice rug is placed on the ground with four chairs surrounding the rug and a fireplace facing directly at the chairs. Kyuu can clearly see a sofa can hold three people in the uppermost position and two armchairs placed slightly below the sofa, as they are both in the opposite positions. There are four people in the room, but one of them drops dead in his chair.

Judith tells the DDS boy that he needs to figure out which one of the three other men is the murderer based on his hypothesis. Same rules as Dark Magician Girl's are applied in the test.

Kyuu turns his attention to the other sheet of paper and it shows some facts that the boy needs to know. Apparently, the victim's name is William and it said he died due to poison.

The boy looks carefully at the rest of the facts:  
- The men's names are William, Smith, Brown, and Robinson.  
- Their jobs are admiral, schoolteacher, general, and doctor.  
- The schoolteacher is sitting next to Smith on his left.  
- Smith is sitting in one of the armchairs.  
- William was drinking a whisky.  
- There are four people in the room.  
- The schoolteacher doesn't drink.  
- Robinson is sitting next to the general.  
- Neither Smith nor Brown has any sisters.  
- Smith is the admiral's brother-in-law.  
- No one has left his chair.  
- Brown is drinking beer.

After Kyuu reads all the facts and ponder over them for about a minute, the boy slowly smiles as he places the papers to the counter saying, "I got it."

Kyuu's sudden answer clearly surprises everyone around him including Judith.  
Usually, it takes a lot longer to figure out the answer but for the boy from the real world, it only takes a minute for him. It's no wonder they're so surprised. They all ask the DDS boy the answer.

"Okay then. The clues are right in front of us. I should warn, some of these facts aren't relevant to the answers, they're more for like distraction from the truth. First of all," Kyuu picks up the paper with the facts on it and holds it close to Kite and the others, "Let's take some of these bullet points to determine the occupations and positions of these four guys."

Kyuu points his index finger at the first two points. Those two points are quite easy to guess the men's occupations respectively. The boy then asks the guild members in the counter for a pen to draw some labels on the paper with the picture on it. Fortunately, Kanon happens to carry a pen with him, so he gives it to the DDS boy.

He proceeds to draw labels on the chairs.

William and Smith sit on the armchairs that are facing each other in the opposite positions while Robinson and Brown sit on the sofa. The schoolteacher sits in the utmost left corner of the sofa, which is close to the doctor. The general sits in the right corner, which is close to the admiral.

Now that they know the positions of each man, Kyuu proceeds by pointing out the remaining points.  
The remaining bullet points immediately show that the victim, William, isn't the only one who drinks. In fact, Brown and Robinson have their own drinks except for Smith. In addition to this fact, Brown's drink happens to be beer but none of the facts state Robinson's drink.

Finally, Kyuu tells Judith, Dark Magician Girl, Kite, and the others a very important clue that identifies the killer's identity…

'No one has left his chair.'

"Huh? What's that got to do with the killer identity?" Sakura asks feeling confused about the last bullet point.  
"I… Have to agree with Sakura. I don't get it as well," Noel adds.

"Of course, I'll explain that right away," Kyuu said while lifting his index finger with a silly grin.  
"Look at the picture one more time," the holds out the picture closer to everyone around him, "If you think about the last bullet point and this picture, the answer is pretty much standing in your face. The killer has to be… Brown."

"Brown should be the killer because none of them have left their chairs. Since Brown sits very close to the victim, he could have put the poison into William's drink," Kyuu explains his answer.

Everyone in the counter is speechless once they've heard Kyuu's explanation of his answer just by their expressions alone.

"…Well, you got it right, boy," Judith's expression changes immediately. She looks at Kyuu with a satisfied look on her face as she shakes hands with him, "Congratulations, you've passed the final test."

The boy's reaction is exactly how most people would react if they succeed in something.

Overjoyed by his success, Kyuu hops around the lobby shouting and cheering like a little kid. The rest just watches him with their eyes dotted feeling much more awkward. "…Is he always like this?" Kanon turns his around facing Dark Magician Girl and Kite. Their only respond is a shrug.

The young magician looks down at the dark igneous rock, she is still unsure whether she's able to pass this test or not due to her inexperience with magic items appraisal. The blonde girl gives more thought about the test as she turns her attention to Kyuu, who in turn look back at her. Seeing that the boy has succeeded the Guild Tests and remembering their conversation at the basement, Dark Magician Girl finds the courage in her to face the test even if she's going to fail. The most important thing is that she has tried her best.

"_Alright…_" Dark Magician Girl takes a deep breath.  
_"Here goes nothing…_"

Before the blonde-haired girl can even inspect the stone, someone suddenly screams. The sound of the scream is very loud that it echoes surprising everyone in the guild.

"W-What was that?" Kyuu faces toward the entrance of the guild prompting the boy to go outside to check it out.

**Nutsy Guild/Outside**

Kyuu, Kite, and Dark Magician Girl quickly step outside of the guild followed by Kite's friends, Kanata, Kanon, Sakura, Nina, and Noel.

To their surprise, they find a large, red-skinned, muscular orc in iron armor although the armor doesn't really cover its enormous body. The only body parts the armor covers are its left arm and its waist. Its shoulder pads and gauntlets have sharp spikes. Its legs are quite long despite its body's huge size, but tad skinny.

"That's… That's a _**Blood Orc**_!" Dark Magician Girl exclaims.  
Kyuu turns his attention to Kite. The boy in red figures that the DDS boy has never heard of a Blood Orc before, so he briefly explains Kyuu that Blood Orcs are one of many types of orcs in Rakenzarn. That particular orc lives according to their instincts like animals and does not communicate with other races.

"Oh boy… It looks tough," Kyuu utters anxiously as the orc roars aloud while pounding its chest.  
"Yeah, we can clearly see that, Sherlock," Kanata said seemingly mocking the DDS boy for what the boy said.

"This is strange…" Noel utters.  
"What is?" Sakura turns her attention to the other blonde-haired girl.

"Blood Orcs are supposed to live in the southern region of this continent. What's this one doing all the way out here? Let alone an isolated region."

"Now's not the good time for that! Look! Someone's there!" Kyuu quickly points forward. In front of the large orc is a little girl lying on the ground injured.

The orc roars again as it raises its fist attempting to pound the girl.

Quick to react, Noel draws out a pair of handguns that are attached around her waist and fires directly at the orc's abdomen. Even though the bullets can't seem to penetrate the Blood Orc's muscular body, they still manage to hurt the large orc. Noel continues to fire her bullets directly at the orc forcing it backwards. The orc quickly covers its abdomen repelling the bullet, but it gives much time for Kite to dash forward and retrieves the injured girl from the orc.

Once Kite returns to the group with the injured civilian, Noel ceases fire and lowers her handguns. It prompts the orc to lower its massive arms, but only to see Kanon heading towards the orc. The mysterious boy leaps into the air reaching the orc's head and throws a quick punch hurling the Blood Orc across the area. Kanon then slides backward joining with the others.

"Whoa, nice job," Kyuu utters in amazement.

However, there isn't just a single orc as they thought.  
There are actually two other Blood Orcs joining up with the orc that the group is facing.

"Uh-oh…"

"Don't worry, kiddies!" a familiar voice suddenly yells aloud.  
"Daffy Duck to the Rescue!" Daffy Duck, who's wielding a bow and arrows, steps outside the guild running toward the Blood Orcs. "Hey, wait for me!" another voice yells out as Donald Duck, holding a short staff consists of a steel hook vaguely in the shape of a 'C' on top of it, jumps out of the guild pursuing Daffy to join up with the attack.

Donald and Daffy are intending to take on the Blood Orcs by themselves. The short duck can use magic and the other, greedier duck is an ace archer, combining their skills may have a chance to defeat the Blood Orcs. Unfortunately, the three Blood Orcs immediately attacks the ducks before they have the chance to strike, delivering painful blows at the ill-fated ducks. As a comical result, one of the orcs hurls the ducks back at the teens though they land in front of them.

Bruised and dizzy, the ducks are lying on the ground.  
"A-Are you guys okay?" Nina asks in a worried tone as Kanon and Sakura help the ducks up.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Daffy deliberately starts blaming at the orcs, "You're supposed to wait and let us attack you, not the other way around!"

"Hah! Step aside, kids!" a loud, masculine voice shouts aloud.  
The guild's body builder, Super Macho Man, appears right behind Kyuu, his group, and the ducks as he gently pushes them aside, "Let me show you how a real man unleashes the beast!"

The muscular man charges directly at the orcs.  
As soon as he gets close to the orcs, the three Blood Orcs punch Super Macho Man right on his face simultaneously stunning the muscled man. Next, a Blood Orc stands behind the muscular man and grabs him around his waist lifting man up. The Orc then falls backward while bridging its back and legs, slamming Super Macho Man down to the ground, shoulder and upper back first.

Kyuu, Kite, their group, and the ducks cringe when they see the muscle-bound guy receiving lots of pain from the orcs until the Blood Orcs hurl Super Macho Man next to the group.

"Oh, that's it!" Daffy steps forward with an angry look on his face followed by Donald, "This means war…"  
Donald and Daffy slowly move forward initially showing they intend a rematch with the Blood Orcs, but in a matter of seconds, they suddenly turn their attentions to Kyuu and the rest of the teens pushing them forward saying, "Good luck, kids. We're counting on you. We'll cheer ya in the sideline."

"W-Wait, us!" Kyuu shouts anxiously glancing at the two ducks.

The Blood Orcs immediately dash toward the group.

The boys and girls quickly slide to the left and right respectively while the ducks carry an unconscious Super Macho Man back to the guild.

"Damn… Looks like we don't have much choice," Kanata utters voicing his displeasure with the current situation. Kanata, Kite, and Kanon draw out their weapons, a katana, a pair of blades, and a Zweihänder respectively while Dark Magician Girl, Nina, and Noel draw out theirs, the magician's wand, a healing staff with a blue, oval-shaped crystal on the top of it, and a pair of handguns respectively. All of them wield their weapons except for Kyuu.

Kyuu, Kanon, Kite, and Kanata stand respectively together forming a horizontal straight facing toward the Blood Orcs from the left, the same goes to Dark Magician Girl, Noel, Sakura, and Nina respectively as well.

"Kyuu, think you can keep up?" Kanon quickly asks Kyuu.  
"Hehe… About that…" the boy nervously chuckles holding the back of his head as he glances at the mysterious boy, "To be honest, I've never fought in my entire life."

Kanon raises an eyebrow though his expression seems blank, but in actuality, he's rather surprised to hear that Kyuu can't fight despite his class as an Arxus Rogue. It isn't long as their brief conversation is interrupted when one of the Blood Orcs charge toward the boys.

Kyuu yelps when the orc charges right at them as the monster attempts to swing its muscular arm.  
The DDS boy ducks to evade the orc's punch while the rest of the boys just jump backward to evade as well. In retaliation, Kyuu throws a quick punch as his arm suddenly engulfs in blue light. The impact actually damages and stuns the orc as a result. The light fades revealing the same crimson-colored gauntlet in Kyuu's hand.

"Whoa, I'm getting the hang of this," Kyuu utters as he glances at the gauntlet in his hand.  
From that moment, Kyuu hears Kanon's voice yelling, "Get down!"  
The boy looks back and spots Kanon running forward with the Zweihänder in his hand.

The DDS boy acknowledges Kanon's direction as he quickly kneels. Once Kanon gets close to Kyuu and the stunned Blood Orc, he leaps into the air and delivers a slash directly at the orc's face followed by a punch. The Blood Orc leans backward in pain as Kanon lands in front of Kyuu.

The Blood Orc suddenly regains its consciousness. Seeing the two boys in front of it, the orc throws a punch at them. Kanon immediately rolls to the left barely evading the orc's punch, but sadly, the orc's punch does hit Kyuu hurling the boy across the area though crashes not far from the orc.

Kite and Kanata then dash toward the orc. Upon reaching the Blood Orc, Kite and Kanata thrust through the Blood Orc perpendicularly forming an X-styled slash. The damage is clearly painful for the orc. As a follow up, Kanon stands dangerously close to the Blood Orc and begins to slash the creature repeatedly. After ten slashes, the orc finally punches Kanon sending the mysterious boy hurling away and crashing next to Kyuu, who has just stood up.

The other two boys are about attack the Blood Orc until one of the other Blood Orcs shows up behind them intending to bear hug the boys wrapping around their midsections. Luckily, Kite and Kanata sense the orc's presence behind them. The Blood Orc misses its chance to grab them when Kite quickly performs a back flip jump landing behind the orc while Kanata rolls to the left. Kite then stabs his blades through the orc's rear and Kanata slashes its left side at the same time.

Back with Kyuu and Kanon, the mysterious boy slowly gets up while asking the boy from the real world if he really cannot fight. His response is a nod.

"…Okay, listen," Kanon points his index finger at Kyuu's other arm urging the DDS boy to equip with the crimson gauntlet, "Follow my lead. I'll distract the orc and you deliver the next blow."

Kanon then dashes toward the large orc. The Blood Orc immediately punches the boy rapidly though Kanon blocks its punches with his Zweihänder. With the Blood Orc continues to attack Kanon, Kyuu takes the opportunity to attack it by moving closer to it from the right side and punches repeatedly at the distracted orc. Kanon slides backward to give Kyuu more room. The DDS boy delivers a few punches that actually penetrate through the orc's muscular body hurting it.

As Kyuu delivers more punches, Kanon quickly notices the orc raises its right arm attempting to slam Kyuu.  
Kanon immediately yells at Kyuu to move to the left. The boy from the real world does so in such speed that the orc misses its target. Kanon then shouts at Kyuu instructing him to deliver a few blows ranging from rapid punches to a roundhouse kick. From that moment, Kanon prompts Kyuu to step aside as soon as the DDS boy delivers the final blow.

Once Kyuu delivers a heavy punch directly at the orc's abdomen, he quickly steps aside as Kanon jumps across the area toward the orc and delivers a series of kicks to the Blood Orc's face.

While the boys fight the orcs, the girls are having no trouble with the third Blood Orc.

Noel continuously fires her handguns at the orc forcing the Blood Orc to cover itself with its large gauntlets deflecting the bullets. Dark Magician Girl holds her wand with both her hands while her left hand raises two fingers (index and middle fingers). A wall of flames appears behind the Blood Orc once she raises her index finger from her right hand. The young magician waves her wand to move the flaming walls and collide it with the orc from its rear.

Though injured, the Blood Orc continues to fight. It immediately charges toward the girls.  
In retaliation, Dark Magician Girl raises a rocky wall from the ground blocking the Blood Orc's trail. As soon as the wall descends back to the ground, the orc finds Noel and Sakura behind the wall. Sakura immediately jumps and executes a spinning kick while moving upwards toward the orc's face. At the same time, Noel slides forward passing the Blood Orc below its legs reaching it behind the orc and proceeds to fire her guns at its back.

Once Sakura lands on the ground after the attack, the Blood Orc immediately grabs Noel from behind and tosses her at Sakura resulting both of them pinning into the ground. They attempt to get up, but unfortunately, the orc executes a shoulder tackle hurling the two girls across the area landing next to Dark Magician Girl and Nina.

Attempting to attack the four girls at once, the Blood Orc attempts to execute another shoulder tackle. Dark Magician Girl responds to its attack by placing the top of her wand into the ground while chanting in a quiet tone. After finishing the chant, the ground in front of the Blood Orc suddenly freezes. Since the orc doesn't notice the frozen ground, it casually steps on the frozen ground causing the orc to slip over due to its slipperiness.

Nina raises her wand and chants a short magic word to engulf Noel and Sakura in blue light healing them.

As soon as the orc stands up though dizzy, Sakura instantly dashes toward the Blood Orc and executes an uppercut shouting, "**Shou'oken**!" The impact sends the Blood Orc high into the air leaving Noel to fire her guns again at the orc ending it with Dark Magician Girl hurling furious wind at the orc. The Blood Orc crashes to the ground.

The fight continues though with neither of the group seems to be in trouble. In fact, they are winning the fight.

Eventually, all the three Blood Orcs are sent crashing with each other cornered in the middle of the area. The boys and girls of the brigade regroup in front of the orcs. "Alright, time to finish this!" Kyuu yells aloud as Kite, Kanata, Kanon, Sakura, and Noel line up with Kyuu while Dark Magician Girl and Nina stand behind the rest of the group. Nina raises her staff high and recites a quick chant, "**Ap Corv**," as a soft light engulfs her friends except for Dark Magician Girl. It is actually a buff spell that increases the group's physical strength.

Once Kyuu gives the signal, the six of them jumps high into the air and they all perform a dropkick toward the Blood Orcs. Afterwards, they launch into the air again as Dark Magician Girl hurls her large, sphere-shaped energy from her wand toward the three orcs. The impact knocks the Blood Orcs backward and soundly defeated.

The six then lands safely on the ground standing in front of Dark Magician Girl and Nina.

"Whoa… Did we just… Beat some orcs?" Kyuu utters in amazement once he realizes that he and his new friends have just defeated three Blood Orcs together. Dark Magician Girl shares the same reaction with the boy. The very fact that amazes the pair is their first time fighting in a real battle and have won.

Everyone turns around facing at each other. The rest of the girls share the same reaction with Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl. For the boys, Kite expresses his relief that they've defeated the orcs while Kanata seems to enjoy their fight. Kanon, on the other hand, has no expression in his face at all. The mysterious boy only nods as he places and stabs his Zweihänder on the ground.

At the same time in the entrance, Donald and Daffy are watching them from the front of the entrance. They have been watching the group's fight with the Blood Orcs and they're clearly in awe after seeing their fierce fight with the orcs.

"There they are!" A voice suddenly yells.  
Kyuu notices a group of men in medieval armors with full chest and back plates added to their armors. They also wear helmets with glowing blue eyes. Each armored man armed with various types of weapons ranging from a typical sword, a spear, and a long axe.

The armored men surrounds the beaten and battered orcs.  
"So these are the vile creatures that have been causing trouble in this town," one of the armored men said as another group arrives with a large cage in tow. They place the Blood Orcs into the cage and take them away.

"Huh? W-Who're they?" Kyuu asks as he watches the men taking the Blood Orcs away while some of them stay behind. Kite explains to Kyuu that those armored men are known as 'The Knights,' the imperial force serving The Order of Rakenzarn.

Some of the Knights approach Kyuu and his group for questioning about the Blood Orcs attack.

**Nutsy Guild**

Back inside the Nutsy Guild, Krillin is at the second floor hallway standing in front of a window with a man in silhouette next to him.

Apparently, Krillin and the silhouette man have been watching the entire fight from there.  
"Wow… They've actually beaten three Blood Orcs," Krillin said in awe while glancing at youths below the ground.  
"See? I told you," the silhouette man said in a cheerful tone. Like Krillin, he watches the young kids outside the guild.

"They seem to make one heck of a great team, you know, although that newbie needs some training. Kinda strange for an Arxus Rogue not knowing how to fight," the silhouette man said referring to the DDS boy, Kyuu.

"Yeah, he just joined the guild and he's already making a name for himself," Krillin adds until he turns his attention to the silhouette man, "But what about that Duel Monster spirit? Well, she appears to be a very skilled mage, but she hasn't passed the test yet."

"Oh, don't worry about that, Krillin," the silhouette man also turns his attention to Krillin facing at each other, "We'll still keep the test. Once things start to calm down, we'll proceed with the test. Hopefully, she passes the test."

"…One thing that bothers me," the silhouette man said as his tone changes into a seemingly concerned one, "Those Blood Orcs. How in the world could the Blood Orcs get into this region in the first place?"

"I'll send Sonic and Ace to look into this," Krillin immediately said.

"Okay," silhouette man nods.

A moment of silence soon follows for about a minute until the silhouette man looks back at the window, facing at the boy, Kyuu, and his new friends. "And make a little arrangement for those kids once the girl's test is over. I have a good feeling they may make a great brigade."

_**End of Chapter**_

**-XX-**

**A/N:  
**Finally, Kyuu joins the Nutsy Guild, but what about Dark Magician Girl? Can she pass her last Guild Test? We'll see it in the next chapter.

For the characters that make their debut in this chapter are listed below:  
- _**Krillin**_, the bald martial artist who appear in **Dragon Ball** and its sequels, **Dragon Ball Z** and **Dragon Ball GT**.  
- _**Piccolo**_, the Namekian and one of the main characters from **Dragon Ball Z**.

For the monsters:  
- _**Blood Orc**_, a type of Orc from **Radiata Stories**. They mainly live in rocky environment in a region located south of Cyril Region. Their element is Fire.

-  
The list of unique spells Dark Magician Girl use:  
- **Fire Walls**,the walls of fire that she uses against the Minotaur.  
- **Silent Lake**, freezes some of the grounds.  
- **Gan Bolg**, summons boulders ranging one to ten.

The list of unique spells Nina use:  
- **La Repth**, a standard spell that heals an ally and any other member nearby.  
- **Ap Corv**, a buff spell that temporarily increases physical strength.

**A/N:** The little detective game Judith gave Kyuu is actually based on an activity from my English Course at my town.

Before we end this chapter, I'd thought I could give the eight main characters their voice actors. I know some of them have their English VAs, but some of them don't. And so, here they are:

- **Kyuu**  
Seiyu: Megumi Ogata  
VA: Veronica Taylor

- **Kite  
**Seiyu: Sayaka Aida  
VA: Mona Marshall

- **Kanata  
**Seiyu: Yuko Sanpei  
VA: Vic Mignogna

- **Kanon  
**Seiyu: Yu Kobayashi  
VA: Laura Bailey

- **Dark Magician Girl  
**Seiyu: Yuki Nakao  
VA: Kari Wahlgren

- **Sakura  
**Seiyu: Misato Fukuen  
VA: Brittney Harvey

- **Nina  
**Seiyu: Akemi Kanda  
VA: Carrie Savage

- **Noel  
**Seiyu: Kanako Kondo  
VA: Cristina Valenzuela


	4. Chapter 2: The Twilight Brigade

**DISCLAIMER**: I don't own some of characters in the story. The characters that will appear in this fic are owned by their respective owners. There will also be OCs that are owned by their respective authors.

-/-

**Rakenzarn Tales**

**-/-**

**-Cyril region-  
Densel Town**

**Nutsy Guild/Outside**

Kyuu, Kite, Kanata, Kanon, Dark Magician Girl, Sakura, Nina, and Noel fight the three Blood Orcs in a fierce battle.

Eventually, the group sends the three Blood Orcs crashing at each other and they're lying on the ground injured.

The boys and girls of the brigade regroup in front of the orcs. "Alright, time to finish this!" Kyuu yells aloud as Kite, Kanata, Kanon, Sakura, and Noel line up with Kyuu while Dark Magician Girl and Nina stand behind the rest of the group. Nina raises her staff high and recites a quick chant, "**Ap Corv**," as a soft light engulfs her friends except for Dark Magician Girl. It is actually a buff spell that increases the group's physical strength.

Once Kyuu gives the signal, the six of them jumps high into the air and they all perform a dropkick toward the Blood Orcs. Afterwards, they launch into the air again as Dark Magician Girl hurls her large, sphere-shaped energy from her wand toward the three orcs. The impact knocks the Blood Orcs backward and soundly defeated.

The six then lands safely on the ground standing in front of Dark Magician Girl and Nina.

"Whoa… Did we just… Beat some orcs?" Kyuu utters in amazement once he realizes that he and his new friends have just defeated three Blood Orcs together. Dark Magician Girl shares the same reaction with the boy. The very fact that amazes the pair is their first time fighting in a real battle and have won.

Everyone turns around facing at each other. The rest of the girls share the same reaction with Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl. For the boys, Kite expresses his relief that they've defeated the orcs while Kanata seems to enjoy their fight. Kanon, on the other hand, has no expression in his face at all. The mysterious boy only nods as he places and stabs his Zweihänder on the ground.

-Chapter 2-  
-The Twilight Brigade-

Continuing from last time, some of the Knights surround Kyuu and they ask him a few questions about the Blood Orcs.

After answering their questions, the Knights thank the boy for his cooperation as they leave to investigate the incident.

"Man… What a way to start my life in this place," Kyuu stretches his arms. From the sound of his voice, he's clearly exhausted. It's quite clear since a lot of things have happened all at once in a single day.

The boy turns around and finds Kite, Kanata, Kanon, Sakura, Nina, and Noel approach him.

"Hey, nice fight back there," Kyuu compliments his new friends' effort during the fight with the Blood Orcs.  
"Thanks!" Sakura cheerfully said as she moves much closer to the boy from the real world, "But is that all you can do?"

Kyuu raises his right eyebrow when Sakura asks him that.

"I know you're an Arxus Rogue and I thought you can use many weapons than just some gauntlets."

The boy is a bit surprised after hearing that. Our protagonist slowly realizes that Arxus Rogues can actually wield more than one weapon, more so than any other classes. The boy shyly said that he doesn't know about that.

"You… Don't know?" Sakura asks feeling a bit confused to hear that. She then turns her attention to Kite, who's standing next to Noel and Kanata. "I told you, Sakura… He really doesn't know how to fight at all," Kite sighs as he lowers his head a bit with his eyes closed.

"You… Told them everything about me?" Kyuu asks facing at Kite. The boy in red lifts his head and opens his eyes, facing at the DDS boy. "Yup, I thought I should let them know about your problem. They're my close friends, after all," Kite said.

"Well… It's kinda hard to believe all that," Nina timidly said giving her honest opinion with the boy.

The boy can't blame Kite's friends. His story does sound unrealistic.

Upon remembering the very first part of his story, Kyuu quickly realizes the mysterious book isn't in his hands again. He must've dropped it during their fight with the Blood Orcs. Luckily, the book isn't far from his location, it's lying near the entrance of the guild.

"_I… Really need to put this book somewhere safe,"_ Kyuu approaches the book and picks it up. He then turns his attention to Kite and his friends.

"Look, this is the book I'm talking about," Kyuu approaches them and he holds out his book closer to them. The book's cover, a symbol of a long rod and a shield with some sort of angelic wings alongside the book's title above it, catches their attention. Kyuu prompts them to look inside the book. Nina picks the book from the boy's hand.

As soon as Nina opens the book and she, along with the rest of her friends, start reading it, Kyuu immediately realizes that Dark Magician Girl is not among them. He looks around and finds that she's not in the guild's area. He quickly peeks inside the guild through the entrance, but she's not inside the guild at all.

Our young protagonist asks the Nutsy Guild members if Dark Magician Girl enters the building, but no one seem to see her going inside, neither upstairs nor the basement.

Kyuu returns outside regrouping with Kite and the others who are still reading the mysterious book.

"Where could she be?" Kyuu wonders deciding to explore the town in search for Dark Magician Girl.

**Street**

Kyuu walks throughout a certain street near the guild.  
That certain street is quite empty. No one is there, not even a single person passing by.

The boy continues to walk around the lone street until he suddenly stops in his trail. He's now at a circular-shaped area with a few trees in the place with a small fountain in the middle. There's also a bench in front of the fountain.

That is where Kyuu finds Dark Magician Girl; she's sitting on the bench looking down on her laps while holding something in her hands.

"So there you are," Kyuu sighs in relief.

The boy walks his way toward the bench. When he gets close, it attracts Dark Magician Girl's attention as she lifts her glancing at Kyuu. "Oh, it's you," Dark Magician Girl utters with a smile.

"Hey, what're you doing out here?" Kyuu kindly asks as he reaches her. He then notices that in the young magician's hands is the magic stone that Judith gave earlier. Kyuu figures that she's inspecting the magic item and figuring out what the item is.

"Sorry… I needed some time along with this kind of stuff," Dark Magician Girl apologetically said.  
"Hey, no worries," Kyuu sits on the bench next to Dark Magician Girl.

The girl smiles after seeing the boy's face before she lowers her head again facing at the magic stone in her hands. "I'm still trying to figure this one out," Dark Magician Girl said as she points her left index finger at the stone in her right hand, "I really want to pass this test. Even if my appraisal skill isn't that sharp just yet, I still want to try it."

"Honestly… You're the one who inspired me," Dark Magician Girl shyly admits it as she turns her head away from Kyuu looking at the blue sky above. The boy feels flattered after hearing that from her. "When you said you love detective works, I thought you were joking. Now, I see you're serious about it when you solve that third test. I was really surprised when you actually solve it in a minute."

"W-Well, it's nothing really," Kyuu said humbly while scratching the back of his head. He begins to chuckle nervously feeling a bit flattered.

"…You know, you kinda remind me of myself," Dark Magician Girl turns her attention to Kyuu again with a warm look on her face. The boy raises his left eyebrow with a slightly surprised look on his face. "I really want to be a great mage. It's always been my dream ever since I was little. Having to use all those sorts of magic…"

"I kept studying about magic since elementary and I've already mastered all sorts of basic spells and a few advanced spells. Like this, for instance," Dark Magician Girl raises her right hand lifting up her index finger. She utters quietly the words "Parva Ignis" and a very small ball of flames ignites above her finger. Kyuu is clearly amazed to see her little 'magic trick' as he holds his right hand a bit closer to the flames and he can tell it's real due to feeling its heat.

"I thought I was doing a great job after all these years," Dark Magician Girl blows the flames out from above her finger before she puts her hand back on the stone in her lap.

"The reason I want to join the Nutsy Guild because it's part of my training session and to see how improved I am after all these years. But…"

The young magician lowers her head facing at the magic stone in her hands while keeping her warm expression.

"But looks I was wrong. I'm not improving at all if I can't even make out this stone. Guess I still got much to learn, after all," the girl said with a chuckle as she faces again to Kyuu, "But who cares if I fail this test? There's always next year. At least it's not a total lost."

Kyuu finds the magician quite interesting. Normally, some girls might feel down or discouraged when they hear this kind of news, but for Dark Magician Girl, she's one of the few girls who are still calm despite the odds.

"…I hope you pass. You deserve it," Kyuu said to cheer Dark Magician Girl's spirit up even more.  
"Thanks," she immediately replies as she looks back at him, "You know, you're the first human, or should I say first person, I ever tell this."

Now Kyuu feels even more flattered hearing not just from a girl, but the fact it's one of the famous fictional characters from the real world.

"So there you are."

A familiar voice suddenly calls out from the blue.

Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl turns to their left only to see Kite, Kanata, Sakura, Noel, Kanon, and Nina standing right there together in a horizontal line respectively. Among them, Nina is the one holding the mysterious book. "We've been looking all over for you two," Kite said with the rest nods in unison.

"Trying to make out alone while we're reading your book, huh?" Kanata said teasing the pair much to their dismay.

"W-Wait, you got it all wrong!" Kyuu yelps as he quickly stands up sweating rapidly while Dark Magician Girl remains in the bench feeling a bit embarrassed by Kanata's comment. "We're just having a little talk here! What's wrong with that, anyway?"

"Hey, take it easy there," Sakura chuckles waving her hands back and forth prompting Kyuu to calm down, "But you could've told us that you two are together from the very start."

"There's no need to hide an important fact like that," Nina adds with a smile.

"Hey! I told you! You got it all wrong!" Kyuu yells again, "We don't have that kind of relationship!"

"R-R…Relationship?" Dark Magician Girl utters as she slowly begins to blush.

"Oh, so you're not together?" Noel kindly asks, which Kyuu responds by nodding repeatedly.

"Y-Yeah! We're not having a little time out alone. I swear it," Kyuu said as he starts to feel much calmer, but Kanata, Sakura, and Nina aren't fully convinced.

"Aww, come on," Sakura quickly approaches Kyuu and gives him a friendly head-lock and playfully rubs the boy's head with her fist, "Just admit it."

"W-We're just friends, that's all!" Kyuu retorts, as he breaks free from Sakura's grasp and shoves her away.

However, Dark Magician Girl's shy expression soon changes when she hears something from Kyuu. A single word that might help her with the Guild Test. She quickly stands up and approaches the boy, who's standing right next to Sakura. "Kyuu! What did you just say just now?" she quickly asks the boy.

"Huh? Well, I just said that we don't have that kind of relationship."  
"No, not that! Right after that!"

"I said that we're friends and all."  
"Before that."

"We're not having a little time out alone."

"…Time?" Dark Magician Girl looks at the magic stone in her hands again. She examines the stone again noting its dark color and the yellow linings imprinted on it that forms a pair of pentagons both in the opposite positions of each other.

"Dark Magician Girl? Is something wrong?" Kyuu asks when he notices a serious look on her face as she stares at the stone.

"…That's it!" Dark Magician Girl suddenly shouts loudly with a bright expression holding the magic item tighter, "That's gotta be it! That's it! THAT'S IT!"

She begins to jump for joy noting by her happy looks.  
The girl suddenly embraces the boy while repeatedly saying, "THANK YOU!" before she gives him a kiss on his right cheek. She then runs across the street heading towards the direction that leads to the Nutsy Guild.

Kyuu and Sakura stare dotted-eyes at Dark Magician Girl who's already left the scene. The others soon follow the two's example as they're befuddled to see that.

Our hero slowly places his right hand onto his cheek noting that it's the first time he receives a kiss from a girl right on his cheek. His cheeks slowly begin to redden.

Sakura suddenly turns her attention to Kyuu and asks, "What did you just say to her?"

The boy is speechless as he blankly stares at the direction where Dark Magician Girl went. Sakura soon notices the boy is blushing.

"Hey hey," Sakura playfully pokes Kyuu by his cheek, "You're blushing."

"C-Cut it out!" Kyuu nervously retorts at Sakura though she continue to tease him since the boy just earns a kiss.

"Oh, by the way," Kite suddenly approaches Kyuu catching the boy's attention. As soon as the boy glances at Kite, he notices some luggage behind him.

"Krillin has just spoken to us about forming a brigade."

"A brigade?"

**Nutsy Guild**

Dark Magician Girl returns to the lobby in the guild.

She notices that some of the guild members aren't present in the lobby, probably some of them left to investigate the sudden appearance of the Blood Orcs. Only Judith, Luigi, and Krillin are present at the counter.

"Judith, I got it!" Dark Magician Girl yells loudly with a cheerful look on her face. Her yell gains their attention as they see her by the entrance. "I finally got the answer!" She immediately approaches the counter.

"Whoa! Y-You found it out already?" Krillin is clearly surprised along with Luigi. Usually, identifying an unapprised item takes about an hour or two, but Dark Magician Girl manages to figure out the magic stone in a short amount of time, not including the time they've fought the Blood Orcs.

Dark Magician Girl puts the magic stone at the counter in front of Judith.  
"This stone is none other than the Vertragen Stone!" Dark Magician Girl points her right index finger at the stone, "It allows time to slow down in the area around the stone. It's a bit difficult to differ it from the other four stones, but I manage to figure out a way."

She points at two pentagons. While the two shapes are identical, they are actually different hidden within the yellow linings that form the shapes. If you take a close look at it, there are small red circles in each pentagon though marked differently: one between the pentagon's lower line and one at the left pentagon's left line.

Judith slowly smiles knowing that Dark Magician Girl finally has the answer before she congratulates the young magician.

The young magician is overjoyed, as a result.

"Wow… You actually did it!" Krillin also congratulates Dark Magician Girl as he shakes her hand, "Welcome to the Nutsy Guild!"

"Gee, you did it-a," Luigi also congratulates the young magician as he shakes her hand too after Krillin, "We're-a glad to have someone like-a you in our guild."

"And you know… We have just the right brigade for you," Krillin also adds.

**Street**

Kyuu arrives at a rather large house with Kite, Kanata, Kanon, Sakura, Nina, and Noel located somewhere in the western part of town. The house appears to be a ranch-style house with a small, but beautiful garden in the house.

Along the way, Kite explains to Kyuu that each guild member will be assigned to different brigade. Apparently, Kite and his friends haven't been assigned to a brigade just yet until now. Krillin has just announced that they're going to be a brigade with Kyuu being one of them.

One of the rules states each brigade must live together so they can learn more about each other and grow as, not just a brigade, but also a family.

At first, Kyuu is reluctant after knowing that he's going to live with someone else, let alone people. However, the boy changes his mind when he learns that he gets to be with Kite, the first boy who befriended and helped Kyuu when he first arrived in this world. He has a good feeling that he, Kite, and his new friends will be a great team since they did defeat three Blood Orcs together. Recalling that fight, Kyuu begins to wish that they had Dark Magician Girl in the brigade.

"By the way, who owns this house?" Kyuu kindly asks.

"Nobody owns this house," Kanon, who's standing next to Kyuu by his left, immediately answers.

The boy turns around facing Kanon.  
"No one at all?" Kyuu asks again.

"That is right, this is a vacant house," Kanon said back as he approaches the house's main door while taking out the house's keys from his pocket, "Our Guildmaster bought this house just a couple of months ago when the previous owners moved."

Kyuu then turns around to see the rest of his new friends. He learns that they live separately with their folks except for Kanon, who doesn't seem to live with his relatives at all. In fact, Kanon has been living in the Guild. When they hear that they're now a brigade and going to live with each other, they immediately pack their belongings, which explains the luggage from earlier.

"By the way, we finished reading your book," Nina said as she gives the mysterious book back to Kyuu.  
The Ultra Maniac protagonist explains that the book does show all the events including their fight with Blood Orcs, which surprises everyone.

"I'm very sorry for not believing you," Kanon said as he approaches Kyuu as the others bow their heads apologetically. "Please forgive us," Noel also said.

"Hey, it's okay," Kyuu said in a kind tone as he gets the four to lift their heads up, "I can understand since it's sound really bizarre. Heck, even I can't believe it in the beginning."

Before Kyuu can say anything else, he and his new friends feel a sudden presence. They discover Dark Magician Girl, carrying a pair of luggage, and Krillin arriving at the house.

"Hey, you guys!" Dark Magician Girl cheerfully said as she quickly approaches them head-on with Krillin following from behind. As the young magician reaches the seven, they notice her bright expression that tells them that Dark Magician Girl has passed the Guild Test. Not only that, seeing that she is here, it also means she is assigned to be with their brigade much to Kyuu's happiness.

Everyone congratulates her for her job well done.

The girls are the first one to greet and congratulate her before Kite, Kanata, and Kanon with Kyuu being the last one.

"Well, I see you kids are getting along just fine," Krillin said in a relaxed tone. Having brought along his board, Krillin looks at his list to check the schedule for tomorrow. He also notices that it's almost 6 o'clock noting the sunset.

"You guys must be really tired after today's work," Krillin said to them while reading his list before turning his attention to the eight, "So rest up, okay?"

The teens nod in agreement.

"Tomorrow, you kids will be assigned to your mission first thing in the morning, and don't be late," Krillin turns his back on them as he starts to leave the place, but not before he waves goodbye with his right hand.

Once Krillin leaves, everyone glance at each other wondering what to do next.  
That is until they look at Kyuu, the only one who doesn't have any luggage with him. He doesn't have anything with him except for the mysterious book in his hand.

"Well, I guess we can start by buying some stuff for you," Noel said to Kyuu.

"Yeah, and some stuff for the house," Nina adds.

The newly formed brigade decides to go on their separate ways for today.  
Kyuu decides to go with Dark Magician Girl and Noel who want to buy some things for the DDS boy while Kite and Nina go to the local stores to buy materials for the house. The rest (Kanon, Kanata, and Sakura) will stay home and clean up the rooms for everyone.

_Later that night…_

**Home**

Everyone returns home after doing their works.

The house appears to be western style completed with its furniture and its interior designs. Inside, it looks even bigger than the outside with numerous rooms and large spaces throughout the house. Because the house hasn't been used for two months, the place was a mess filled with dusts and cobwebs. Thankfully, Kanon, Kanata, and Sakura clean the house for the rest of the day and the house is cleaner than before though some parts of the house is still messy.

The three of them has to clean up the empty rooms in the second floor since they're going to be everyone's rooms. Other clean places are the living room and the kitchen.

Kyuu has all the stuffs he needs, such as spare clothes. Dark Magician Girl and Noel are kind enough to pay his stuffs even they're expensive.

For the others, they have done their jobs too. Kite and Nina bought many things, mostly for house cleaning and ingredients for food. The rest have cleaned up the empty rooms for everyone to stay.

Everyone, except for Kanon and Nina, regroups in the living room.  
The living room is like the rest in your usual home, completed with sofas, lamps, small tables standing in each sofa, and a mat. In the center of the room, there are sofas positioned together forming a square with two lamps positioned in the left and right sofas. A mat is placed in the middle of sofas.

The time is already 8 o'clock.  
Night has already taken over.

"Well, glad we're all together again," Kyuu cheerfully said as he sits down on the comfy sofa.  
"You know, this place isn't so bad, after all," Kanata said complimenting their new home.  
"Yeah, feels like home already!" Sakura also cheerfully said as she sits on the same sofa as Kyuu, sitting next to the DDS boy.

"Yeah, we could really tune this place up," Kite adds.

The rest of the gang in the room soon sits down on the other sofas.

Kite and his friends soon start a friendly conversation with each other. Although Kyuu finds it a bit awkward to spend some time with people he doesn't know in such a short time, let alone fictional characters that people know in the real world, he actually feels that he fits in with the group. In fact, he starts to enjoy spending time with them.

In his mind, he compliments over the characters one by one, as he recognizes them all and even knows a lot about them, saying they are all good in his book. The only character he doesn't know that much is Kanon, who's from a Visual Novel game series called Umineko. Despite that, he feels that he may get along with Kanon just fine.

The boy becomes quiet as he watches his new friends chatting to one another. He finds it very interesting to see characters from different series interacting as if they're real. All the sudden, they become quiet as they turn their heads facing Kyuu. They urge the boy to share some of his story.

Kyuu does so as he feels that he should tell them more about himself.

Their conversation goes on for about fifteen minutes until Kanon and Nina enter the room holding out some foods for everyone. It turns out that Kanon is the one who handles the cooking in the house while Nina helps him out.

Much to Kyuu's delight, the foods are Japanese delicacies, mostly Donburi, the Japanese rice bowl dish. That includes Gyudon, Unadon, and Oyakodon.

"Everyone, please eat up," Kanon and Nina start to hand each of their friends food until the seemingly sullen boy gives the last a Unadon to Kyuu. "Tomorrow is going to be a big day. Our very first assignment as a brigade," Nina said to her friends cheerfully. Everyone can tell that Nina is very excited about tomorrow's first assignment.

Although it will be their first assignment, it might be a challenging task.

"And Kyuu," Kanata suddenly calls the DDS boy by his name. Everyone faces at Kyuu.  
"At first, it's difficult for us about your story since it sounds so… Well, bizarre. However, after seeing that little book of yours, we take back what we said," Kanata said to Kyuu.

"Your little book there sure is something," Sakura adds while pointing at the mysterious book now in Kyuu's hands.

"I read a lot of books, but… I've never seen one like that before," Nina also adds.

"…Could it be possible that you and your book are connected with the plague?" Kanon suddenly said aloud his theory that catches everyone's attention. Now that they think about it, Kyuu and his book may have a strong connection with the current crisis Rakenzarn is facing.

Kyuu looks at the book once again as he flips it to the latest page that shows the events with the Blood Orcs and his new home. He begins to ponder about the book and its mysterious nature, wondering such thing that usually comes from a work of fiction is real. The boy then turns his attention to his new friends.

To his relief, they all agree that they will help Kyuu in his search for answers regard of the connection between the book, the plague in Rakenzarn, and himself.

Kanata stands up from his seat and approaches Kyuu.  
"Even though we just met, we know that we couldn't let someone who really needs help go off alone. So don't worry about it," Kanata pats Kyuu on his right shoulder, "We'll help you find your answers. "

"Thanks… All of you," Kyuu utters expressing his gratefulness toward them.

"Wait a sec, we haven't even named our brigade!" Dark Magician Girl suddenly said changing the subject, "We can't be a brigade if it doesn't have a name."

"You're right, we need one," Kite stands up as he turns his attention to Kyuu, "Why don't you give it a name, Kyuu?"

The DDS boy is a bit surprised when Kite asks him to name their brigade, but what surprises him the most is when everyone agrees with the .hack protagonist. Kyuu is a bit reluctant as he feels it's not his place to name such group, but the others insist to commemorate him joining the brigade.

Kyuu eventually gives in.

He thinks for a while of a good name for the brigade.

"How about… **Twilight Brigade**?"

Everyone nods in unison.

"Then it's settled. From this day forward, together we're known as the Twilight Brigade," Kite said to his friends. Sakura optimistically applauds for their newly formed brigade as she hops off from her seat raising her fist.

"Well then," Kanon stands up from his seat as well.

"I implore all of us to get a lot of rest since tomorrow will be a big day. So please, get some rest."

_Meanwhile…_

**Nutsy Guild**

Most guild members have left the building, nobody else is there except for a very few people who are either work overtime or live there.

At the fourth floor, an office belongs to the Guildmaster. Its interior is like most offices you see in companies and businesses with its clean desk full of papers. It also has a large window behind the desk that shows a clear view of the town from the fourth floor.

They have a few interesting trinkets on the shelves in the bulletproof glass cupboards hanging on the wall, right in the uttermost right corner of the office. Everything is there, ranging from a bronze wine cup to four phoenix crowns. The most notable artifact in there is an orange, crystalline sphere with four stars embedded on it.

The room is dimmed because the lights in the office are not on. Instead, the reflection of the moon shines through the window.

Someone is there in the office, it's obviously the Guildmaster, but his face and appearance are never shown, only a silhouette.

One of the guild members, Sonic the Hedgehog, enters the room.

"Yo, sorry I'm late," the blue hedgehog waves at the Guildmaster.  
"What took you so long?" the Guildmaster asks. From the tone of his voice, he doesn't seem to be mad with Sonic since he's late, rather he formally talks to him.

"Ace got a little sidetrack back there and the folks at the eastern quarter need help," Sonic answers.

"So what do you get about those Blood Orcs?" the Guildmaster immediately asks another, but an important question.

"It's pretty much of a shocker. Ace and I tracked down their trails all the way to the Blackwood Forest. You know, the old forest northwest of here. When we got there, we found The Knights were already there and they discovered a secret cave. A big one. The cave's accessible through a secret gateway and, from the looks of it, it was sealed tight before. Strong enough to hold an army of Blood Orcs."

"How big is it?"  
"Probably big enough to house five times the orcs that attacked the town."

"So that means there are fifteen Blood Orcs, but where are the rest of the orcs?"  
"The Blood Orcs have probably left separately."

"But that leaves another question," the Guildmaster said with a more serious tone, "How did the orcs get into this region? I thought Blood Orcs are in the southern region, not here. Not to mention, we're isolated from the rest of the world thanks to the plague."

"Could it be teleportation magic?" the Guildmaster asks Sonic.  
"I don't think so. We saw some of the Knights' mages there. I overheard them talking about teleportation magic and the barrier prevents anyone from teleporting outside and inside the region. So yeah… We're totally stuck here."

The Guildmaster ponders the facts together. The only logical deduction is that someone brought the Blood Orcs from the southern region way before the plague's uprising and when the plague finally occurred, the culprit must've released the Blood Orcs. The question is… What is the culprit's motivation?

Cyril Region has already enough trouble with the plague that drained all the waters throughout the region and being sealed off from the rest of the world by the mysterious barrier. The Knights are trying their best to find a way to break the barrier and protect the people. If there are actually more Blood Orcs out there, they may cause more trouble.

"Sonic," the Guildmaster calls the blue hedgehog by his name, "Thanks for your help. I'll definitely take a look into this matter. You may dismiss. Oh, and give my regards to Ace too."

The blue hedgehog smiles while giving a thumbs-up to the Guildmaster.  
"Hey, no prob. I'm just happy to help," the hedgehog said before he leaves the room.

The Guildmaster stops and thinks for a while.  
What course of action he should take for solving this mystery?

He looks down at his desk and then at a modern telephone that's happen to be in his desk. He immediately picks up the phone and dials the numbers calling a certain person who he knows very well.

"Hello. Yeah, it's me."

-/-

A few minutes later, the Guildmaster exits his office and walks his way through the hallway. The lights in the hallway are on so it's much brighter than the office. However, it seems to be empty since a fewer people are still in the guild.

The Guildmaster walks his through the hall to reach the staircase. Unexpectedly, he comes across the Namekian member of the guild, Piccolo, leaning on the wall with his arms folded and his eyes closed.

"Oh, hey there, Piccolo!" The Guildmaster greets the Namekian in a cheerful tone. The green-skinned alien just stands there leaning on the wall until he opens his eyes. Piccolo turns his eyes facing the unknown Guildmaster. His expression appears to be blank as usual.

"Whatcha doin' this late? I thought you and Yuri went back home," the Guildmaster said to the Namekian, but his only response is Piccolo staring at him with a blank expression. Raising his right eyebrow, something comes up in the Guildmaster's mind. "…How long have you been eavesdropping on us?" the Guildmaster suddenly asks though he keeps his cheerful outlooks.

Piccolo wedges forward from the wall and he faces at the Guildmaster while still keeping his blank expression. That's his only response.

Even from his mere expression, the Guildmaster can tell that Piccolo has been listening to the conversation from the beginning until the end. Despite that, the Guildmaster isn't worried at all since it's Piccolo, an old friend of his. He just shrugs.

"I take that you're going to BlueLake Town?" Piccolo asks almost all of a sudden.  
"Yeah, it's our favorite place, after all," the Guildmaster said as he slowly walks forward and passes by Piccolo.

"You think this has some sort of connection with that incident?" Piccolo asks.  
"Yeah, there's no doubt about it. After all, we've been there before. It's very similar for my taste and I'm going to get into the bottom of this one way or another," the Guildmaster said back.

"Hmph… Then I'll keep an eye on this town while you're gone."  
"Actually…"

The Guildmaster suddenly turns around facing at Piccolo. In turn, the Namekian does the same staring at the unknown Guildmaster with a blank expression. "There are other guilds that can take care of the town. What I really want you to do is…" He suddenly gets close to the Namekian and whispers at the Namekian's ear. His blank expression immediately turns into a shocked one once he hears the Guildmaster's request.

"YOU WANT ME TO WHAT!" the Namekian yells loudly.

"Well, yeah. I need someone who's more experienced and much stronger. You're just the man for the job, Piccolo!"

The Namekian glares at the Guildmaster with an annoyed expression as he suddenly steps forward and grabs the Guildmaster by his collar. "Are you mocking me!" Piccolo snarls in disdain at the Guildmaster, though the unknown owner of the Nutsy Guild remains calm and isn't bothered much by Piccolo's aggressive act.

"Nah, I'm not," The Guildmaster said urging the Namekian to let go. The green-skinned man does so.

The Namekian is speechless, but he's thinking over the Guildmaster's request.

"Well, I won't force you if you're not up for the job. I'll just go ask Yuri instead."

The Guildmaster turns around and is about walk away to the staircase until Piccolo stops him by quickly saying, "Wait."

The Guildmaster turns around once more facing at Piccolo.  
"Fine, I'll do it."

"Hey, cool," the Guildmaster gives Piccolo and thumbs-up and a wide smile, "I'm countin' on you, ol' pal."

Piccolo just turns around and walks away without saying anything at all.

**Home**

At the same time, Kyuu, holding his mysterious book and a large plastic bag, enters his room.

Everyone's rooms are in the second floor.

His room is like the rest of the house, western-style. It is still quite empty though. There are closets and a small desk in the room. His bed isn't a futon but a traditional bed completed with its solid base and its headboard. Next to the bed is a small window that's currently closed by the curtains.

Placing the book onto his bed, the boy opens the plastic bag revealing many clothes inside. He undresses his current clothes and wears a set of clothes (white long-sleeve shirt and short pants) that is actually comfortable to wear for bed.

Kyuu approaches the window and pulls the curtain aside. He looks outside to see the clear view of the town at night. It's nothing like the city back home but the view of the town is quite beautiful. The lights in the street are dim but the sky is clearly nice. The stars are shining and the crescent moon is in a clear view.

"Wow… This looks pretty nice from up here," Kyuu said to himself as he continues to glance the town from his window. His amazement soon fades away when he quickly remembers about his friends in the real world. Upon remembering the incident that transports him into the storybook's world, he wonders if his friends are here in Rakenzarn or they're still at the real world. He soon dismisses it when he realizes that if they're sucked into the storybook's world, they would've been with him from the very beginning. Hence, he's alone in this world.

The boy hopes that he'll get home soon thinking that his friends and his only family, his mother, may be worried about him.

Kyuu sits down on his bed as he glances at the book.

"…_I'll find a way,"_ Kyuu turns his attention at the window staring at the peaceful town.

"_I'll find a way back home. I know there is a way."_

_**End of Chapter**_

**-XX-**

**A/N:  
**And that's the end of the chapter though nothing much really happen here.

What awaits him and his new friends in their first assignment the next day?

Tune in for the next chapter.


	5. Chapter 3: First Assignment

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own some of the characters in the story. The characters that will appear in this fic are owned by their respective owners. There will also be OCs that are owned by their respective authors.

**-/-**

_Three letters backward..._

_Message from the author..._

**Rakenzarn Tales**

**-/-**

**-Cyril Region-  
Densel Town**

The sun shines upon the town.

Just like your everyday to_w_n from other media, the people start to wake up and do their usual routines. Some works on their jobs while some stay at home doing housewor_k_.

Patrolling the street are the Knights. Those who are active at nighttime _h_ave ret_u_rned to their homes to rest as the day-active soldiers replace them. Other Knights have arrived in town delivering supplies of water from BlueLake Town.

Guilds immediately open up for business taking requests from various clients throug_h_out town.

The town appears to be very peaceful...

**Home**

Kyuu remains in his bed sleeping.

His room is slightly dark with the lights off with only a small ray of sunlight shines through the window, between the curtains. The mysterious book is at the small desk.

Clearly, the boy from the real world has enjoyed his new room that he's still sleep like a log.

Someone sneaks into the room undetected and moves close to Kyuu's bed. The perpetrator appears to be holding a trumpet. It stands next to the bed from the left side pointing the trumpet near Kyuu's ear. The perpetrator then blows the horn out loud.

Kyuu yelps hysterically jumping out of his bed and crashing to the floor on the right side of his bed.

"W-What? W-Who? Where?" the boy mutters in pain as he stands up. The boy holds his left ear feeling a lot of pain flowing through his eardrum. He glances at the perpetrator standing in the opposite direction.

"...Sakura?"

"Hehe, finally, you're awake!"

-Chapter 3-  
-The First Assignment-

Sakura waves her hand at Kyuu.  
He's clearly not pleased with the way she tries to wake him up.

"Okay, first of all, where _d_id yo_u_ get t_h_at?" Kyuu points at the trumpet in her hand. "Secondly, why did you wake me up with that?" He then points his index finger at his left ear.

"What's wrong using this?" Sakura playfully pats Kyuu by his shoulder with the musical instrument, "There's nothing wrong about it. At least we put this to good use. And it's loud enough to wake up a sleepy head."

The boy remains silent seeing her answer as odd. He immediately looks at the clock and finds that it's 6 o'clock in the morning.

"Okay, I don't mind if you wake me up this early," Kyuu turns his attention to Sakura, "But isn't this a bit too ear-"

He suddenly stops midway in his sentence. Kyuu recalls the events that had happened yesterday especially the time he joined the Nutsy Guild. She has a very good reason to wake him up this early.

"Sorry," he apologetically said as Sakura suddenly tosses the boy a towel directly on his face. "Hurry up, then! Everyone's already up! Hop, hop!"

-/-

Walking across the hallway, Kyuu has his mind pondering about his brigade's first assignment.

For a first time in a guild, he's actually excited about his first day with his brigade. He's quite curious to see their next assignment since he's working with a group of characters from different series, even though some of them he hardly recognizes. Hopefully, it's nothing too dangerous or something even worse than the Blood Orcs yesterday.

Then again, he needs the job hoping to get some answers about this world and the book.

Right now, Kyuu decides to take a warm bath and relax before setting off to the guild. The mansion has four shower rooms, which is a good thing since there are eight people living under the same place.

Kyuu finally reaches the shower rooms. All the doors are lined up in the right side of the hall.

He opens the door and peeks inside. The boy is a bit surprised to see that the bathroom is clean completed with a glass shower stall, a toilet, and a sink. In addition, it even has its own variety of soaps and shampoos ready.

The only problem? Well, the shower room is already occupied. In fact, someone is taking a shower and forgets to lock to the door... And it's Dark Magician Girl...

The blonde-haired magician screams when she sees the DDS boy by the door.

"Oh..." Kyuu utters quietly as he slowly starts to blush. He has a full view of the girl's 'mature' body, finding it really... Well, as they all say, hot. Though some parts of her body are covered by the fog coming from the hot water.

"Oh? Is that all you can say, you _p_e_r_vert!" Dark Magician Girl angrily screams as she quickly grabs a towel, which is hanging on the glass stall, and _u_ses it to cover _h_er body. She glares at the boy whose face is entirely red. Seeing her cold, vengeful eyes looking directly at him, Kyuu cringes in fear.

"Hehe... Sorry?" Kyuu nervously utters.

In retaliation, Dark Magician Girl grabs her wand that's on the floor next to her and points it at Kyuu.

"**BLIZZARD!**"

Kyuu gives a nervous smile as a large chunk of ice homes into the boy freezing him in an instant. Dark Magician Girl, still covering her body with the towel, walks toward the boy and glares at him for a while before she bashes him with her wand in a golf style.

* * *

_Few minutes later..._

**Nusty Guild/Lobby**

"Let's see if you can get out... THIS ONE!"

Daffy and Sonic are playing chess at the lone table. Unlike the pieces we usually see in the real world, the chess pieces come in various colors other than black and white. The black duck controls the black piece while the blue hedgehog controls the white piece.

The duck has made his move and his chess pieces have surrounded the hedgehog's three remaining pieces, including the king. If Daffy makes his next move, he'll surely beats Sonic. Seeing the situation is grim for the hedgehog, the duck gloats that he is going to win in no time.

"Haha! Everyone, c'mon and look!" Daffy yells loudly gaining the attention of Mario, Super Macho Man, Judith, and Luigi. "What's-a going on?" Mario asks. "What's going on? I just defeated Sonic in chess! I finally beat him!" Daffy yells hysterically at Mario. The duck then faces at the hedgehog and said, "I finally show you who's the better guy!" in a mocking fashion.

Daffy proceeds to do his victory dance that consist of him hopping around and yelling "WOO-HOO!" repeatedly. Sonic is unfazed by this turn of event as he suddenly makes his next move.

"Checkmate."

The duck suddenly stops hopping when he hears the word. He quickly inspects the chess board. Daffy is silent for a moment until he yells, "WHAT!" once he finds that Sonic has defeated him once again. While he focused a full assault on Sonic's chess pieces, he failed to notice two of Sonic's pieces have already cornered his king first and there's nothing he can do to stop it.

"Wow, you sure showed him," Judith sarcastically remarks Daffy's defeat.

Super Macho Man laughs at the duck pointing his index finger at the unlucky duck.

Enraged, Daffy smashes Super Macho Man with the chess board. The Punch-out character retaliates by smashing the duck with a chair. Next, Daffy smashes Super Macho Man with the table. Super Macho Man takes out his favorite boxing glove and wears it before he punches Daffy directly on the face. The punch results with the duck's beak spinning around until it stops behind his head. An irritated Daffy puts his beak back in place.

In retaliation with the muscle builder's boxing glove, Daffy takes out a handkerchief and slaps at Super Macho Man's face. Surprisingly, it's stronger than it looks as it actually causes him to spin around for a while.

Daffy and Super Macho Man begin to scuffle at each other like children.

"Well, here they go again," Judith said in a calm manner as she departs to the counter leaving Sonic, Mario, and Luigi alone watching the two comical characters duking out.

The counter contains a certain portfolio with the label 'Twilight Brigade' on it. Apparently, Judith is in charge with the files of each brigade in the Nutsy Guild. When she opens it, she finds the brigade's profiles.

"So," Judith turns her head to the right, "You're in charge with these kids?"

Piccolo stands right next to Judith holding on Krillin's board containing 'job' papers.

Piccolo stares at Judith with a blank expression and asks, "Do you have any problem with that?"

"Not at all," Judith calmly replies, "It's just not like you to take care of these kids, you know. Have you gone soft on them?"

"...They're both out of town and I can't trust any of these idiots with the newcomers. They won't survive this world without a proper guide."

Piccolo casually moves to the left evading a hurling chair that's about to hit him.

"Oh? What about those three then?" Judith suddenly asks, which surprisingly gains Piccolo's full attention. "Weren't they with the Guildmaster before he retired?"

Piccolo doesn't have the answer to her question. From that very moment, the brigade finally enters the guild. "We're here!" Sakura cheerfully shouts as the new brigade approaches the counter.

"Well, well, they're here," Judith said.  
"Hmph, about time," Piccolo said to the brigade members, "A good start, all of you. Never be late or early, that's the first step as a brigade."

Judith suddenly notices that Kyuu doesn't look too good. The boy is seemingly depressed. The Kritya woman also notices the blonde-haired magician looks rather upset. Before Judith asks "What happened," Kanata quickly goes and whispers, "Don't even ask. They're having a fight right now."

Kyuu glances at Dark Magician Girl. He decides to walk toward her hoping to ask her for an apology. Sadly, she immediately glares at him prompting the boy to stop.

The boy stares back at her with a saddened expression, to be precise, feeling guilty for the fiasco at the shower room earlier.

They both stare at each other for a while...

"YOU TWO!" Piccolo's voice shouts loudly surprising the two.

Both Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl see the rest of the brigade is lining up with Piccolo in front of them. "Enough of your quarrels! Get in here now!" Piccolo scolds the two as the latter quickly join up with the rest.

"I don't know what kind of problems you two are having now, but you need to learn to put aside your problems for now and finish your priorities. We're in a time of crisis, so we need to be at the top of the game. Do you understand me, the both of you?"

"Sir," the duo nods in response.

"Good."

"Now let me explain how things work here in our guild quickly," Piccolo begins to explain while walking back and forth facing at the Twilight Brigade, "As you all know, townspeople request help from the guild, our brigades earn money by completing those jobs."

"Some jobs are simple and some are difficult. However, the more difficult the job, the better the payment," Piccolo suddenly stops walking when he's between the eight teens, "When the brigade has no assignments, you're free to go and, importantly, polish your skills. But the brigade missions always come first no matter what the reasons are."

"Are you all ready?" Piccolo asks.  
"We are ready!" the eight shouts simultaneously.

"Good. Here is your first assignment," Piccolo hands them a paper sheet that's actually a request note. It has the client's name, the request, and the payment. The note shows that the client, an old mage, wants some rare flowers that only grow in forest. It has the picture of the flower just below the description.

The picture shows a particular flower with an odd shape in green.  
Just beneath the request is the deadline saying, 'Three days.'

"What's this?" Kyuu asks.

Nina pays a close attention to the strange flower noting its every detail. Her eyes are focused mainly on the petals that seem to have color patterns. In no time at all, she figures out what the flower is.

"I know this! It's an Ongerept!" Nina answers excitedly gaining her friends' attention, "Mages usually need Ongerepts for one of their powerful spells. The best place to find them is the Blackwood Forest."

"The Blackwood Forest?"  
"It's the forest north of town, Kyuu."

"One more thing," Piccolo suddenly said.  
"You're all aware of the deadline from that note. However, I am not going give you the deadline."

"Huh? What does that mean?" Kyuu kindly asks.  
"It means your deadline is not three days... But at sunset!"

The statement surprises the brigade.

"I expect you all to finish this assignment by sunset. Don't you dare fail," Piccolo said to the brigade.

"A-Are you serious?! But this is our first assignment!" Kyuu complains to the Namekian, "At least go easy on us just this once!" The boy stares at the Namekian for a while. From that moment, he quickly recalls something that Piccolo had told him yesterday.

"_In battle, there's no time for cowardice or incompetence."_

"...Yes, sir," Kyuu suddenly said taking back the words that he had said.  
"We'll just have to do our best."

"Good," Piccolo suddenly said afterward, "This shouldn't be too difficult for you, but I expect to see good results. The key to success is teamwork, remember that well."

"Before you go..." Piccolo suddenly calls out the duck prompting the latter and Super Macho Man to stop fighting. "The box. Now," Piccolo said to the duck in a fast tone. Daffy acknowledges.

The duck runs toward a door and exits with a large briefcase. Daffy hands it over to Piccolo. The briefcase contains eight armbands, each has the Nutsy Guild's logo. With that done, Daffy goes back to settle things with Super Macho Man, in a comical way.

"You're not officially a brigade without these," Piccolo said urging the Twilight Brigade to take and wear the armbands.

With that done, the Namekian dismisses the brigade and wishes them a success.

"WOO-HOO! WOO-HOO! WOO-HOO!"  
That is when they suddenly hear a loud smashing sound and Daffy passes by them running in a crazy fashion while doing his trademark laugh. The duck jumps through the window breaking its glass.

The brigade and Piccolo find that Super Macho Man lying on the ground unconscious with a large mallet on his head. Mario, Sonic, and Luigi are standing next to the Punch-out boxer sweating.

"Wow..." Dark Magician Girl turns her attention to Kyuu, "You weren't kidding about that duck. He is nuts."

Daffy Duck suddenly appears between Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl. The black duck moves very close to the magician and said, "That, my cute little magician, is strictly a matter of opinion." The duck makes the 'eye' at her.

"WOO-HOO! WOO-HOO! WOO-HOO!"  
The duck then runs straight to another window and jumps through it break the glass as well.

**Street**

On their _w_ay to the town's gate, the Twilight Brigade walks through the street arriving at the main section of the town. They just need to go south to reach it. _K_yuu holds the request note reading it with Nina and Kite walking beside him while the rest follow from behind.

The Center _D_istrict is crawling with a lot of people, much more crowded than yesterday.

"So all we have to do is to pick these flowers, right?" Kyuu asks staring at the picture on the note, "Yup, that's about it," Nina answers.

"Don't worry about finding it, Kyuu. Leave that to me!" Nina cheerfully adds.

"Well, then I guess this gonna be an easy job," Kyuu _q_uickly said back in a confident tone, "We'll get them right before sunset."

"I... Wouldn't be too sure if I were you," Kite warns Kyuu catching his attention. "After all," a voice suddenly said surprising the detective boy. The voice comes from behind them. Kyuu turns his head to the left and sees Kanon walking behind the former. "Piccolo didn't say it's going to be easy, he just said 'it shouldn't be too difficult.'"

"Huh? Why is that?" Kyuu asks as Kanon walks his way to the front and then to the right side of Kyuu, Kite, and Nina.

"Do you know what lives in the wilderness?" Kanon then asks.

Hearing the question alone helps Kyuu to realize what Kanon meant. Seeing that the world is inhabited by fictional characters from different series, the young boy imagines how dangerous the outside places can be.

Kyuu glances at Kite with a nervous look and asks, "So... What kind of animals are in the wilderness?"

"Many kinds and they're all dangerous," Kite answers.

"But don't worry, the monsters at Blackwood Forest aren't that strong," Nina reassures him.

"So... What're the monsters?" Kyuu asks.  
"Velocipreys," Kanon answers immediately.

"Veloci... Prey?"  
From the sound of his voice and the look on his face, it's clear that he doesn't know about a 'Velociprey.'

"You see, there are many types of monsters throughout the world, some are easy to kill and some are not, depending on the environments around them. The Velociprey is one of the small fries, but they're very dangerous when in packs. We still need to be careful with them," Kanon explains to Kyuu.

At least it's not that dangerous. It could have been even worse than the Blood Orcs. Then again, he's with a group of special characters from different series. He shouldn't worry that much.

He looks back to see Dark Magician Girl walking behind Kanata, Noel, and Sakura. The magician notices it and she looks away from him in disdain, showing that she's still mad with him much to his disappointment.

"_I really should apologize to her later,"_ Kyuu thought to himself.

The brigade eventually reaches the southern part of town where they find the set of double-doors guarded by two Knights. The guards are armed with long spears.

"Halt," they simultaneously said, "What business do you have outside of town?"

"Oh... Well..." Kyuu and Kite approach the guards. Before Kyuu can explain the guards about their current mission, Kite steps in and shows them his armband. Just by looking at it gives the guards their answer though Kite explains to them anyway.

"We're on a mission, so would you be so kind to let us through?"

"Right away," the guards open the entrance for the brigade.

* * *

The Twilight Brigade exits the town.

The landscape is actually beautiful, the tropical fo_r_ests covering throughout the land and flowers on the hill tops make the scenery even more gorgeous. Much more like Paradise. From where the brigades are standing, they have a clear view of the mountains surrounding the entire region. The region isn't that huge, but it's not small either.

In addition, the lakes and rivers are completely overflowed with water.

Kyuu is very surprised to see the landscape, especially the waters. He thought that the waters are completely dried up due to the plague until he quickly remembers the Water Orb. He figures that the Water Orb magically conjures clear water and spread them across the region.

However, even with the Water Orb, the Cyril Region is still cut off from the rest of the world due to the barrier created by the plague.

"So we go north from here, right?" Kyuu asks as he points his index finger to the north, which Kite nods as a response.

Dark Magician Girl sighs in disdain. "Let's just go," the magician mutters as she moves forward. Kyuu moves closer to Dark Magician Girl attempting to talk to her, hoping to clear things up with her.

"Umm... DMG?"

Sadly, the young magician retaliates by turning around and bashing him to the ground with her magic wand. "Don't get too close to me..." She utters in a menacing tone as she walks leaving Kyuu lying on the ground.

"Geez, she's still mad with him?" Kanata wonders.

Kite and Noel approach the DDS boy and help him up.

"You okay, Kyuu?" Kite asks, which Kyuu nods as a response.

"And did you just call her DMG?" Noel then asks.  
"Yeah. Well, her name is too long, so I thought I should give her a nick name," Kyuu explains to Noel, "You know, take the first letters of her name, and we got DMG! Don't you think it suits her?" The boy of the real world sheepishly asks the Blazblue character.

"DON'T GIVE ME SOME STUPID NICKNAMES!" Dark Magician Girl suddenly shouts from afar.

"Geez... Can't she just _q_uit it?" Kyuu utters.

The rest of the brigade moves on catc_h_ing up with the blonde-haired magician as they walk the trail to the Blackwood Forest.

-/-

As the Twilight Brigade move on, someone is spying on them from afar.

In fact, whoever's watching them is hiding out at a tree but it's actually a man-made house disguised as one. It even has a few, small windows and a front door. Right now, the watcher is at the parlor.

"Well, well, well," the spy, standing in front of an opened window, watches the brigade via a telescope, "What do we have here?"

The spy focuses on three of the brigade until he soon focuses on one kid: Kyuu.  
Surprisingly, or perhaps not too surprising, the spy is none other than Pete.

"So that little punk's now with a guild, huh," Pete said to himself when he notices the guild logo on his target's armband, "Looks like I was right to bring you guys all along."

Pete turns around facing at other people who are with him: the Beagle Boys and the Wario Brothers.

The tall Beagle Boys are currently polishing their rapiers while the short Beagle Boy is setting up some new guns such as a pistol and a double-barreled shotgun. For the Wario Brothers, they prepare some explosives with most of them bear resemblance the Bob-ombs of the Mario series.

"Boys, he's finally out of town! Now none of them Knights aren't going to stop us this time," Pete said to his new and old comrades in a sinister manner, fitting for a Disney villain.

"Then what are we waitin' for? Let's go after the kid!" one of the tall Beagle Boys said aloud intending to go out of the tree house and pursue their common enemies. Before the Beagle Boy can do so, Wario stops him. "Take a look," Wario hands over a binocular to the Beagle Boy and prompts him to look outside the window.

When the Beagle Boy does so, Wario guides the former to look directly at the other brigade members, both familiar and unfamiliar faces.

"Oh. Looks like he's got company too," the Beagle Boy said as he focuses his view on Kite and Dark Magician Girl, "And haven't we seen those two from yesterday?"

"As much I love to stomp that kid for ruining my business-" Wario is suddenly interrupted by Waluigi saying, "Did Waluigi hear his brother say 'my business?'"

"I mean, OUR business," Wario quickly fixes his sentence while looking back at his brother with a nervous expression. "But I ain't dumb enough to take them all on," Wario turns his attention back to the Beagle Boy.

"Aye, ya got that right," the tall Beagle Boy said back.

"_W_ell, he ain't gonna be so lucky this time!" Pete shouts loudly as the _B_eagle Boy and Wario return to their posts.

"Since we all have some bones to pick with the same guy, but we gotta take care of those other runts," Pete said to his comrades, "And once we have him... You know what to do, boys!"

The Beagle Boys and the brothers all stand up.  
The _s_hort Beagle Boy loads up his double-barreled shotgun, the other Beagle Boys _h_old out their rapiers, Wario draws out a spiky hammer, and Waluigi holds out a whole arsenals of explosives.

With their weapons in hands, they all snicker deviously followed by Pete's very own sinister laugh.

* * *

**Blackwood Forest**

Located to the north of town lies the said forest.

The forest seems normal like any other tropical forests throughout the region. The only thing that differs it from the other forests is the large hills within, leading up to the higher parts of the Blackwood Forest.

Large trees nearly block the sky with little light shines through, creating numerous shadows and dark patches around the forest.

Woodland animals such as squirrels inhabit the forest. Other than the usual animals, the forest is also the home to various monsters. The Velocipreys are among them.

The Twilight Brigade soon reaches the forest.

Once again, Kyuu is in awe once again seeing the seemingly peaceful forest. He shouldn't think so as the forest hides frightening encounters and dangers. Kanata steps forward and inspects the forest's exterior.

"...Enemies could be anywhere," Kanata said to his friends, "So stay close. Especially you, Kyuu."

"Me?" Kyuu points his thumb beneath his chin. Everyone else looks at him with Dark Magician Girl standing the closest to him.

"Gee, I wonder who. Could it be another guy with the same name as you?" Dark Magician Girl sarcastically said in disdain. "Of course it's you!" The young magician suddenly slaps the back of Kyuu's head painfully.

"Ow! Hey, that hurts!" Kyuu yells in pain while holding his head.  
"Look, he clearly has a point. You suck at fighting, so without any of us, you're everybody's favorite target practice," she said to him as she storms off.

Kyuu is left feeling even more depressed especially after seeing her like that. He has always thought that most people let go of their grudges as time passed by, but after seeing Dark Magician Girl, it proved him wrong.

The others approach Kyuu.

"Wow, I never knew your girlfriend is such a hothead," Sakura said aloud though this time, Kyuu doesn't mind since he's still depressed. "Knock it off, Sakura... For the last time, it's not like that..." Kyuu said gloomily as he lowers his head. Sakura, cheerful as ever, pats him on his back to comfort him.

"I don't mean to offend you... But..." Noel is very reluctant to confess it since she doesn't want to hurt Kyuu's feelings even more. Even so, she still needs to tell him. In a few seconds, she comes up with words that might help him feel a little better. "But she is right. You said yourself that you don't know anything about fighting, so you need us. She probably said that because she's concerned about your well-being."

"Oh? She is?" Kyuu suddenly lifts his head feeling more relieved.

Just then, Kanata steps in and said, "Or maybe she wants to see you become monster food."

That completely breaks Kyuu's spirit as he goes back to sulk to his misery. Sakura and Nina comfort him while rubbing on his back. Kanon just watches the two girls with a blank expression and his arms folded. Standing next to the Umineko character is Kite who watches poor Kyuu feeling sorry to the latter.

"K-Kanata!" Noel quickly confronts the boy in the kimono.  
"W-Why did you have to do that?" the former asks him, scolding the latter for his words though her personality prevents her from sounding serious. "What? I like to see him like that," Kanata shrugs as if it's normal for everyone.

"But it's not okay!" Noel cries in a shy tone.

Kite sighs in disappointment feeling that their very first assignment isn't going well...

-/-

The brigade strolls through the forest.

How big the forest is anyone's guess. The place is much bigger in the inside than the looks from the outside. Some parts of the forest look almost the same that it nearly cause them to get lost. Thankfully, Kyuu paints some trail marks on trees in case they need to go back.

Currently, they're still in the first zone of the Blackwood Forest.

"So tell me," Kyuu calls Nina as he leaves another trail mark on a large tree, "This... Ong... Whatchamacallit, what is it, exactly?" The boy's answer is Nina nodding her head. "That's Ongerept, Kyuu. It's a really rare flower and it only grows here in this forest. If we find it, we have to be not to touch it."

"Not... To touch it?"  
"Yup. We can't touch the flower or it will wither, so we have to dig up the ground around it and carry it without even touching the flower."

"Whoa, seriously?" Kyuu asks in a surprised, yet interested expression. It is quite a surprise for him to hear such flower. Nina nods with a smile.

"That's why I bring this," Nina grabs a backpack out of nowhere and holds it close to Kyuu, "I have a flowerpot, magic items, and potions."

Kyuu stares at the backpack with his eyes dotted and asks, "Where'd you get that?"

From that moment, Kyuu recalls the outside view of the Blackwood Forest. There's supposedly some large hills somewhere in the middle of the forest. Even though the hills are high, the boy can still see the top. It's not clear, but he swears that the top of each hill appears to be empty completely lack of trees, only grass.

Maybe that's where they can find Ongerept flowers.

Kyuu immediately tells his fellow brigade members about the hills.

"Actually, that's one of the places we're going, Kyuu," Nina suddenly said to him.

"'One of the places?'"  
"Well, Ongerepts are really rare, but I know some areas that might have them. We should visit all those places."

"There should one over there," Nina then points at the eastern direction.

"Wow, you sure know a lot," Kyuu said. Nina chuckles feeling flattered. She tells him that she learns magic including ingredients to certain spells. As a mage, she should at least know the locations of each ingredient.

With that said, the brigade goes to the direction leading to one of the places. They find a rather small opened field where there are no trees, only grass and flowers. Unfortunately, this place doesn't have the rare flowers they're looking for.

They go to other locations nearby, but they still can't find a single Ongerept . In fact, all the possible places in the first zone are empty.

They venture deeper into the forest hoping to find the rare flowers.

While on their way, Kyuu attempts to apologize to Dark Magician Girl for the fiasco earlier this morning. Unfortunately, his attempts have no results as she either ignores his apology or glares at him. No matter how hard he tries, the blonde-haired girl isn't going to forgive him that easily.

They eventually stop at an intersection of the forest. This particular area has no trees making the bright, blue sky visible above.

So far, they haven't encountered any monsters yet.

According to Nina, the intersected paths should lead to other possible locations.  
The problem: there are a lot of locations. It'll take hours or even an entire day to visit them all at once in a group.

"Hey guys," Dark Magician Girl steps forward and then faces at her friends, "Let's split up into groups here. We'll be able to find the flower faster this way."

"No," someone suddenly answers. The Yu-Gi-Oh! girl looks at the direction of the voice and sees that it's Kyuu. "I don't think we should split up. We should stick together and search those places one by one."

"Excuse me," Dark Magician Girl suddenly raises her hand with a gentle look on her face, though some of the brigade can tell that it's a lie. The magician approaches Kyuu. "Did I hear you say... No?" she asks meekly. Kyuu nods.

Dark Magician Girl moves closer to his left ear, which Kyuu thought she's going to whisper to him. However, the former instead shouts at his ear, "ARE YOU NUTS?"

Kyuu yells in pain as he limps backward.

"W-What's that for?" Kyuu angrily asks while holding his left ear in pain. "Seriously, have you forgotten about the deadline?" Dark Magician Girl suddenly asks back at him in a more threatening tone, "Do you really want us to fail in our first assignment?"

"Of course, I remember! But I don't want us to die in our first assignment!" Kyuu yells again. This time, he's finally had it. "Kanon said that the Velocipreys move in packs. If that's true, then we shouldn't split up in small numbers! We should stay together as a team!"

"We don't have any time if we go together! I'd say we split up into groups! It's faster that way!" Dark Magician Girl yells.

"But they travel in packs! We'll be outnumbered if we split up! I say we should stick together!" Kyuu yells back at him.

"Oh, since when you're in charge of this brigade, skunk hair?"  
"...Did you just call me... 'Skunk hair?'"

"Yeah," Dark Magician Girl suddenly pulls the boy's hair, "Your hair here."

"Stop it!" Kyuu shoves her backward preventing her from pulling his hair, "And what the hell's wrong with you? Don't tell me you're still mad with me 'bout the shower room!"

"You should've knocked first, Kyuu! If you had knocked the door, I wouldn't be so angry!" Dark Magician Girl yells back.

"And you should've locked the door first, DMG!" Kyuu yells back at her.  
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" she suddenly yells even louder.

Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl continue to argue to no end. Their bicker gets even worse as they begin to yell and insult one another.

"Alright, knock it off, you two!" Kanata suddenly comes between the two to separate them, "Now's not a really good time to fight. I really don't know why you two are still fighting all morning, but-"

Before Kanata finish his sentence, the couple throws painful punches at him sending him hurling across the area, crashing at a tree. Kanata gets knocked out.

"KANATA, STAY OUT OF THIS!" Both Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl yell simultaneously before they argue with each other again.

Kite, Kanon, Sakura, and Noel quickly advance to the couple in an attempt to stop them from arguing. As for Nina, she's with Kanata fanning him with a handkerchief.

"Both of you, stop it this instance!" Kite shouts as he comes between them, "Seriously, this is not the time for you two argue!" Kanon quickly holds Kyuu by his shoulders as he pulls him away from Dark Magician Girl while the other girls hold the latter by her arms.

While that's going on, the brigade is unaware that a certain group arrives at the intersection area hiding behind some bushes. They're actually the Wario Brothers and the Beagle Boys. Strangely, Pete isn't with them.

"Well, well," Wario chuckles spying on the brigade, "We finally found 'em, boys."

"Oi, what's wrong with those two?" one of the tall Beagle Boys asks pointing at Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl. "Obviously, lovers' quarrel," the other tall Beagle Boy answers.

"Hey," Waluigi faces backward, "Where is-a Pete? The big man should've been with his friends now."

"Who cares about that big cat," Wario shrugs, "We finally got that brat. Time for some payback! But first, we gotta get 'im off those kids."

The plumber leans backward. He reaches his hand to the right on the ground looking for a weapon until he touches something. Wario thinks it's the Beagle Boy's shotgun.

"Hey, lemme borrow this shotgun," Wario grabs it and points it at a tree slightly near to the brigade. "This should scare 'em off," Wario chuckles.

"Shotgun? But my shotgun's right here," the short Beagle Boy said as he holds out his double-barreled shotgun. If the shotgun is in the Beagle Boy's hands all along, then what's Wario holding?

Wario slowly looks down at his hands. He finds that it's not a weapon at all, but a a blue-scaled tail with black stripes. The fat plumber quickly notices the others are looking at the opposite direction of the former. It prompts Wario to look at his right.

He discovers that the tail belongs to a certain raptor-like creature with its blue-colored scale with black stripes and a dull red crest on their heads. The creature sports seven sharp claws and four curved claws on their feet...

Then he notices that the creature is not alone...

"Uh-oh..."

At the same time, Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl continue to argue despite their friends' persuasion to stop while Nina still fans her handkerchief on an unconscious Kanata.

-  
"AARRGGGH!"  
"NOOOOOO!"  
"MEERRCYY!"  
"MAMAMIAAAA!"  
"WEEEEEEEE!"  
-

Five distinctive voices suddenly scream simultaneously surprising the brigade, even waking Kanata up.

"Huh? Now what?" Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl utter in unison as they face toward the direction of the scream.

The Beagle Boys and the Wario Brothers suddenly jump out of the bushes and begin to run for their lives leaving some of their weapons behind.

"Oh great, it's those guys again..." Dark Magician Girl utters in frustration.  
"You know those guys?" Noel kindly asks.  
"Yup, we met them yesterday," Kyuu answers.

"GANGWAY, LADDIES! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" The tall Beagle Boy yells as he and his comrades flee to the east path.

Seeing the terrified looks on their faces, the brigade assumes something must have spooked them in the bushes. They look to the bushes where the brothers and the thugs emerged. They notice something is moving in the bushes until another moves in the right side. Then another moves in the left side.

They all have a bad feeling seeing multiple movements in the bushes until the same creature that scares the hoodlums away emerges from the bushes.

It's a Velociprey.

Another Velociprey jumps out of the bushes followed by three more. Three more emerges followed by three more. Then two more jumps out. If you think that's all of them, think again because ten more emerge from the bushes.

The creatures snarl and growl at the eight teens, imprinting them as food.

"Crap, it's them!"  
Dark Magician Girl Kite, Noel, and Kanon quickly draw out their respective weapons facing at the ten Velocipreys. Blue light engulfs both Kyuu's arms. When it fades, it reveals the crimson gauntlets in the boy's hands. "Heh, looks like I can get used to it," Kyuu said to himself.

"Kyuu, get behind us!" Kite shouts as he and Dark Magician Girl move toward Kyuu while Kanon and the other two girls face the Velocipreys. "Right, I'll just play defense," Kyuu utters as he poses a defensive stance.

The raptor-like monsters advance toward the brigade.

Kanon charges forth. He swings his large sword horizontally, smashing four of the Velocipreys and hurling them out of the area. With four down, Kanon proceeds to attack a Velociprey just before five of the raptor-like creatures attempt to attack him. The other Velocipreys advance toward Sakura and Noel.

Noel jumps high into the air while rapidly firing her guns at the creatures. Sakura simply punches the Velocipreys while evading them all at once thanks to her reflex.

Two Velocipreys avoid the three as they advance toward the other three.

Kite immediately dashes toward the Velocipreys and slashes through the creatures defeating them in an instant. Unfortunately, he fails to notice that another Velociprey is heading toward Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl. The Yu-Gi-Oh! girl lifts her wand higher while shouting, "**Thunder!**" It summons a large bolt of lightning from above the sky paralyzing the Velociprey.

While Dark Magician Girl is busy casting another spell on the monster to finish it off, another Velociprey sneaks up behind her attempting to attack her. As soon as the creature lunges at her, Kyuu suddenly appears next to the creature and punches the monster and hurls it away from Dark Magician Girl, knocking it out as a result.

The blonde-haired magician quickly notices Kyuu's action as she takes out her opponent with her magic. "Don't even think I'm thankful for that," she suddenly said much to Kyuu's chagrin.

"E-Eh! Not even a thank you?" Kyuu yells in frustration.

"Would you two stop it right now?!" Kanon suddenly yells while fighting the Velocipreys, "Think about the situation we are all in!"

At the same time, Kanata gets back on his feet and attempts to help Kanon and the others with Nina backing them up. Before they can do so, they suddenly hear loud footsteps coming from behind. "Dammit! Nina, get behind me!" Kanata quickly advances back while keeping Nina behind the former. Just as he feared, another pack of Velocipreys emerge from the forest.

One of the creatures lunge at them though Kanata counterattacks with a double slash subduing the creature. Another Velociprey runs passing by Kanata attempting to attack Nina. Fortunately, Kanata grabs the monster by its tail and tosses it toward one of its kind.

However, a Velociprey catches Kanata off guard and bites him on his right arm. Nina immediately smacks the raptor-like creature with her healing staff directly on the head. Even though the Ultra Maniac girl isn't strong as the rest of the brigade, it's strong enough to hurt it and force it to let go of Kanata's arm. Kanata then subdues the monster by slashing it with his katana.

Nina then uses her magic to heal Kanata's right arm.

"Thanks," Kanata said to Nina until he notices that they're surrounded by the Velocipreys.

"Hold on!" The boy in the kimono quickly holds the little witch. "**Kaiten Suru!**" he executes a spinning slash cutting down the surrounding Velocipreys. Once the Velocipreys are hurled away, one of creatures suddenly jump toward him attempting to pin him and Nina. "**Rasutā!**" Kanata suddenly executes a thrust attack moving in lightning speed, and impales the creature with his katana in time.

Kanata continues to fight the other monsters while protecting Nina.

The others notice Kanata and Nina are outnumbered prompting one of them to go and help them out. That one person is none other than Sakura.

Kanata faces five remaining Velocipreys. Two of the creatures jump at him. The young swordsman quickly shoves Nina backward as he slashes the Velocipreys in a horizontal line cutting them down. The remaining Velocipreys try to attack Kanata once he delivers the attack, but their tactic is foiled when Sakura tackles them from their left side.

Eventually, the number of the Velociprey reduces rapidly until a very few remains.

Dark Magician Girl turns her attention to two of the Velocipreys. "I got these guys!" she casts her **Blizzard** magic freezing the Velocipreys. Just when she is about to cast another spell to finish the monsters off, a Velociprey suddenly jumps on her from behind pinning her to the ground.

Just as the Velociprey is about to do her any harm, Kyuu gets behind the creature and grabs it tail pulling it away from Dark Magician Girl. "Heads up!" Kyuu tosses the Velociprey at Kanon, who in turn, catches the raptor-like creature by its tail and smashes it on other Velocipreys repeatedly as if it's a ragdoll. Afterwards, Kanon tosses the Velociprey aside.

The frozen Velocipreys suddenly break free from the Blizzard spell. However, before they have even the chance to react, Kite passes by them in a flash as he cuts them down within seconds.

From that very moment, Kite realizes that they have defeated the entire packs.

As everyone regroups, Kyuu approaches Dark Magician Girl, who's still lying on the ground, and reaches out his hand to her. She stares at the boy with a blank expression though the latter looks at her with a soft smile.

"...You saved me?" she mutters.  
"Well, yeah. You're in trouble, I had to help you," he said back in a friendlier tone.

Dark Magician Girl eventually accepts Kyuu's help as she holds on his hand and the latter helps her up.

"Is everyone okay?" Kyuu immediately asks as the other brigade members regroup with him and Dark Magician Girl. "We're fine," Kite answers.

"So those... things..." Kyuu turns his attention to his other friends as blue lights shine on his arms and disappear along with the gauntlets, "Those are Velocipreys, huh?"

"I've always heard they travel in packs, but I never thought a pack could be so many," Kanon said as he sheathes his huge blade into its scabbard attached on his back. "At least we've won. It could've been worse," Kite adds.

All the sudden, Dark Magician Girl holds on her right leg and yelps in pain. Kyuu notices that a scar on her leg and it's bleeding badly. "DMG, your leg!" Kyuu yells as he quickly kneels and holds her.

"I... I'm okay," the young girl utters in pain.

"H-Here, let me have a look at it," Noel and Nina quickly approach Dark Magician Girl and inspect her injury. "Oh, thank goodness... This isn't too bad," Noel sighs in relief. "Heh, could be worse," Dark Magician Girl adds.

Nina holds her healing staff closer to the Yu-Gi-Oh! spirit's leg and shines a mysterious light on her scar. Surprisingly, the scar slowly fades from her leg, only stains of her blood remains.

Kyuu is completely surprised to see Nina's healing magic. Noel cleans up the bloodstains with a handkerchief.

"Thanks..." Dark Magician Girl utters in a grateful tone as the two girls stand up. Kyuu helps the former to stand up. The young magician glances at the DDS boy with a rather stressed expression for a while.

"Now do you see?" Kyuu said to the young magician, "This is why we shouldn't split up."

"I hate to say it, but Kyuu's got a point," Kanata suddenly said, "We won't survive from another pack if it's that many if we separate." After a short moment of silence, Dark Magician Girl begrudgingly agrees.

"So where do we go from here?" Sakura asks pointing out the intersected paths. Kyuu points at the western path.

"Wait, what about those guys?" Nina points at the opposite direction where the Wario Bros. and the Beagle Boys headed.

"Don't worry about 'em," Kyuu suddenly said, "I know them from my home too. They're gonna be okay on their own."

-/-

The Wario Bros. and the Beagle Boys run even faster into the deepest part of the forest.

The tall Beagle Boy is on the lead with Wario catching up from behind, leaving the others. They run as fast as they can to get away from the Velocipreys thought they're unaware that the brigade has already taken care of the monsters.

The Beagle Boy quickly stops when he stumbles upon an edge of a cliff. Fortunately, for them, it's not that high and they can see a clear view of a river below. They both sigh in relief that they don't fall down.

From that very moment, Waluigi and the other Beagle Boys accidentally bump over them causing them all to tumble over heels down the cliff and into the river. They resurface from the waters breathing for air.

"Oi, did we lose them?" one of the tall Beagle Boys quickly asks. Waluigi looks up at the direction they came. No sign of the Velocipreys anywhere. "Not one monster on the scene. Waluigi's answer, yes," the tall, purple plumber answers.

"Ah nuts!" Wario moans as he punches the water out of frustration, "But we lost those brats again! A total lost!"

"Actually... It's not," the short Beagle Boy begins to talk, "I heard them talking about looking for some rare flowers." That gains the attention of his comrades, especially Wario. First, they swim across the river and reach land.

"I think they're lookin' for... Ongerept?"

" Ongerept, eh?" Wario snickers deviously while rubbing his hands excitedly, "I happen to know a very good place where there's a lot of them. In fact, I have a brilliant plan here!"

Wario's brother and the thugs move close to the obese plumber.  
"Now here's what we're gonna do, boys," Wario whispers at them as he starts explaining his devious plan...

-/-

The brigade continues their journey throughout the forest searching for the rare flower.

Sadly, their search has no results. For every location they visit so far are empty, no trace of the Ongerept anywhere. They're forced to enter the deeper parts of the forest where countless of Velocipreys reside.

Along the way, they have to avoid a few packs of Velocipreys though sometimes, they have to fight some of them albeit smaller in number.

It gets even worse when they notice the time. They've been in the forest all morning and now it's noon. They only have a few hours left until sunset.

They reach the next location: a small lake.  
Unfortunately, this place too has no Ongerept flowers, which further frustrates some of the brigade members, especially Dark Magician Girl.

"Ugh, not here too!" Dark Magician Girl kicks some flowers out of frustration, "This isn't getting us anywhere! And we're running out of time too!" Standing next to the young magician is the Ultra Maniac protagonist, Nina, who tries to calm her down.

"Hey, don't worry, DMG," Kyuu suddenly calls her, "Look at the bright side, we still have one more place to go. See up there?" the boy points at the eastern direction where the hills are located just not too far.

All the sudden, Dark Magician Girl throws her wand directly at Kyuu's forehead. "I told you to stop calling me that!" the magician yells in anger as her wand returns to her hand.

"Umm, Dark Magician Girl," Nina kindly calls the magician though nervous, "Aren't you being too harsh to him?"

"Hey, you three," Kanata, who's with the rest of the brigade, calls Dark Magician Girl, Kyuu, and Nina, "Hurry up, we got no time lose." They quickly run to the

Dark Magician Girl and Nina quickly run after their friends leaving poor Kyuu behind. The latter immediately recovers and chases after them yelling, "Wait for me!"

They run their way through the forest to reach the hills.

Eventually, they reach the pathway that ascends the said hills.

You might think that they will go up to the path until they reach the top with no problem, but sadly, it's not that easy. There's a pack of Velocipreys crawling around the front of the pathway.

The brigade quickly hides behind some bushes.

"Dammit, not them again," Kanata utters. Kite and Noel peek at the Velocipreys.

To their dismay, the creatures have completely blocked their only route to the hills. They can't fight the creatures head-on since there may be more Velocipreys nearby lest they want to gain attention. They could go back and find their way around the hills, but it will cost them more time. By the time they get to the opposite of the hills, it will already be at sunset.

"What should we now?" Dark Magician Girl asks.

Kyuu gives some thoughts about the situation, trying to hatch a plan that doesn't endanger his teammates for his concern over his new friends is what motivates him.

First, he looks around the surroundings and inspects every detail of the environments. The trees around them are quite tall in size. For the branches, it's the same thing with some of the branches are close to the branches of other trees. In addition, no one will able to see anything up there unless they have keen eyes.

"Hey, Kite," Kyuu whispers catching the said name's attention. Once Kite looks at him, the DDS boy urges the .hack character to look up. Kite does so. The boy in red gets the same idea as Kyuu.

They both then stare at each other and smiles.

"Guys, we have a plan," Kyuu and Kite whisper at their fellow brigade members urging them to get closer and hear them out. The both of them prompt them to look at trees above them, which they quickly realize their same intention. "You know, that's actually a good idea," Dark Magician Girl said.

The brigade climbs their way to the trees and reach the top. From there, they slowly climb the branches jumping from one branch to another to get to the other side of the hills' pathway without alerting the creatures.

Most of the brigade's members are very skilled that they're able to jump in such distance. Kite is the prime example, he's able to jump further than anyone else can do but silently as a ninja. The others are good with Dark Magician Girl being the least, only Kyuu and Nina are incapable of doing so. For Kyuu, he's still inexperience and his weak body can't jump that far. As for Nina, she may be inexperience like Kyuu, but she's a supporter class as she focuses on healing or strengthening her friends. Because of that, Kanata and Kanon have to carry Kyuu and Nina respectively.

Slow and steady, the brigade moves across the trees.

There are few close-call moments that nearly gets the Velociprey's attentions, such as their footsteps through their movements and shadows on the ground.

There's one point where Kyuu and Kanata land on a branch with Dark Magician Girl catching up, but as soon as she lands on it, she loses her balance and about to fall. Luckily, Kyuu manages to catch her by her hand. Dark Magician Girl set her eyes on the boy as the latter pulls her back to safety. Miraculously, the Velocipreys aren't alerted.

Eventually, they reach the other side of the pathway.

They descend to the ground.

"Great job, everyone," Kyuu said to his friends.

"Let's go, we're almost there," Kite adds.

The Twilight Brigade quickly runs up the path ascending to the hills, both Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl follow from behind as they both stare at each other eye to eye.

Dark Magician Girl is still hostile towards Kyuu from the look of her face while running. Despite that, she doesn't even banter or threaten him as she did to him before. Kyuu just smiles at her and asks her if she's alright. She doesn't answer at all. Her only response is facing away from the boy though he doesn't seem to mind at all. She soon begins to run faster to catch up with the others.

They run as fast as they can ascending through the hill.

-/-

Eventually, they reach the top.

The Twilight Brigade stand together in a straight, horizontal line divided into two. In the back, they're Kanon, Nina, Noel, and Kanata. In the front, they're Kyuu, Kite, Dark Magician Girl, and Sakura.

As Kyuu might expected, it's another open field with nothing but grass and flowers. Strangely, the grasses are unusually tall. However, in the middle of the field is a lone tree. The tree is big, but it's not big as the others in the Blackwood Forest. It's actually peaceful, really. Butterflies fly throughout the field feeding on nectar from flowers and many birds flying across the field while some of them chirping happily on a tree. The brigade has a clear view of the sun as it shines upon the field.

Even the DDS boy admits that the field looks nice.

"I really hope the Ongerepts are here," Nina said with a concerned expression.  
"Yeah, me too," Kanata adds.

"Well, it has to be. Why would the client be asking to find that if it's not anywhere in this region?" Dark Magician Girl steps forward and inspects the field. She focuses primarily on the tree thinking the Ongerept flowers are there.

Kyuu notices his magician friend is looking at the tree, which prompts him to do the same. Other than the tree, he looks around the area around it. Something catches his attention and he interprets it as danger.

"I'll go check it out," Dark Magician Girl decides to move toward the tree. Before she can do so, Kyuu stops her again when he holds her hand. "...Kyuu," she utters in an ominous tone as she turns around facing him, "Why are you holding my hand... Again..."

"DMG, calm down. Look," Kyuu whispers. He points at two spots near the trees urging the magician to look at them. "Huh? What about 'em?" Dark Magician Girl asks.

"Watch," Kyuu said to Dark Magician Girl. The boy of the real world calls out Kite and Noel. He asks them to throw the blades at the tree top and the two areas respectively. The .hack character and the Blazblue characters aren't so sure the reason, but knowing the boy in person, he may have a good reason. "Okay then... Here goes," Kite unsheathes his twin blades and Noel draws out her large pistols.

Noel immediately fires her pistols at the area. The shots actually startle two separate characters out of the spots from hiding. They're Waluigi and a tall Beagle Boy, each carries an arsenal of explosives. Since they're completely surprised by Noel's gunshots, they accidentally drop some of their explosives. As a result, it explodes sending the two flying away in a comical way.

Kite throws his blades toward the tree in a boomerang fashion. The blade cuts through the leaves into pieces, revealing Wario and the other two Beagle Boys. They all carry different firearms with Wario uses an StG 44, the short Beagle Boy uses a double-barreled shotgun, and the other tall Beagle Boy uses a crossbow. The other blade passes by the tree as it returns to Kite's hands along with the other one.

"Hah!" Ya missed!" Wario laughs followed by the two Beagle Boys until they hear a creaking sound... "Oh, this sucks..." Wario mutters as the branches they're standing on breaks apart. They plummet to the ground.

"You guys again?!" Dark Magician Girl yells.

"Yeah, it's us again, toots," Wario said as he and the Beagle Boys stand up. Waluigi and the other Beagle Boy, covered in black dust, arrive at the scene. "Hehe, ya really thought ya can get away from us," Waluigi asks in a dazed tone until he and the Beagle Boy shake themselves to get the dusts off from them.

"And how did ya know that we're hiding here?" the short Beagle quickly asks.  
"Yeah, that's what Waluigi like to know," Waluigi adds.

"Simple," Kyuu suddenly points at the birds. He explains that the birds give away their positions. The area has countless of birds and he finds it odd that only two places the birds are evading. A possible answer is that the birds are staying away from live people. In this case, Waluigi and the Beagle Boy hiding in the grasses.

"Huh, guess you're not dumb as ya look," Wario said. The obese plumber faces his fellow comrades, "Well, fellas, looks like our plan fails. Time for Plan B!"

"Plan B?" Kyuu raises an eyebrow.  
"Yeah," Wario clenches fists with a wide grin, "Beating the living heck outta ya! Especially you!" the obese plumber suddenly points at Kyuu.

"Huh? Me?"

"Yeah you, kid! This is payback for yesterday!" Wario angrily yells as he points his finger at the DDS boy, "Thanks to you, the Wario Brothers have lost tons of cash to get the Knights off our backs!" Waluigi yells at the boy as well.

The obese plumber stomps the ground out of anger. "Now we're flat broke! How are we supposed to start our own commercial empire with no money?"

Kite glances at the Beagle Boys. "And what about you? Why are you guys after my friend?" he asks. "We're just here for ya," the Beagle Boys said together. "We figure you're friends with that kid."

"Now that we found ya," the two tall Beagle Boys draw out a crossbow and a rapier respectively while the short Beagle Boy draws out his favorite double-barreled shotgun, "Time for a little payback."

"Yeah, now get ready to pay up for messin' with our business," Wario snarls as Waluigi takes out a large box full of explosives.

Kyuu sighs. "Look, guys. I don't mean to be rude, but we're in a hurry," he said to them.

"Oh really?" Wario takes something from his pocket and holds out a device that appears to be a switch with the 'W' label, "Maybe this'll change your mind!" The obese plumber attempts to press the switch until Noel fires one of her pistols at the plumber's hand knocking the switch away.

"Great shot, Noel!" Kyuu gives her a thumbs-up.  
"Thank you."

All the sudden, they hear a 'click' sound.

Unfortunately, they find that the switch is a decoy as Waluigi holds the real switch.

A ticking sound echoes near the brigade.

The Twilight Brigade quickly tries to move away from their position. Unfortunately, the bomb explodes behind the brigade sending them flying away across the area, separating them in the process.

Kite crashes near the descending pathway.  
When Kite gets up, he finds the short Beagle Boy pointing his double-barreled shotgun at him. "Hehe, what're you gonna do now?" the short Beagle Boy taunts Kite. Just when the thug is about to fire the shotgun, Sakura appears behind the short cartoon character and pokes him by his shoulder, catching his attention.

"Eh?" The short Beagle Boy turns his head around facing at Sakura. The latter just waves her hand at the thug and cheerfully said, "Hi!"

With the thug distracted, Kite quickly draws out his blades and cuts the shotgun into pieces much to the Beagle Boy's surprise. In turn, Sakura executes an uppercut punch directly on the Beagle Boy's back. Once in midair, Sakura delivers a barrage of punches. Afterwards, she stops her attack as Kite delivers a dropkick on the short Beagle Boy sending him up high into the sky.

"NOOT AGAIIIII-"  
The Beagle Boy shouts hysterically in a loud tone as he disappears into the sky above.

Meanwhile, Kanata faces the tall Beagle Boy wielding his favorite rapier while Nina faces the other Beagle Boy who's wielding a crossbow.

"Hah, this should be easy," the Beagle Boy gloats as he lunges toward the brown-haired boy, though the latter easily deflects the thug's rapier with his katana. "Don't count on it," Kanata smiles as he kicks the Beagle Boy away.

The boy in the kimono executes a vertical slash. The Beagle Boy barely evades the attack and counters with a horizontal attack though Kanata is able to evade it as well.

Kanata charges forth again and swings his katana, the same time as the Beagle Boy delivers a slash with his rapier. The two combatants cross their respective swords against each other locking their weapons together. Standing close next to each other, they push against the clinch as each is trying to knock the other off balance. That is when Kanata suddenly executes a knee kick directly on the thug's stomach bouncing the latter slightly into the air. Kanata then uses his other fist to punch the Beagle Boy on the face sending him backwards.

The thug manages to abstain from falling over his back as he stands on his feet. The Beagle Boy looks at Kanata with a nervous look seeing that the brown-haired boy is actually more skilled than he thought.

While Kanata is slowly overpowering the Beagle Boy, Nina faces the other Beagle Boy with a crossbow. "Hah, this should be easy," the Beagle Boy aims the crossbow at Nina, but to his confusion, he finds the cute girl smiling at him. The Beagle Boy stares at her with a confused look.

"Would you like to see something interesting?" Nina holds out her staff closer to the Beagle Boy. The unsuspecting thug moves close toward the young mage to get a closer look at the staff especially the blue, oval-shaped crystal on top of it. Once he's close enough, the orb suddenly shines brightly blinding the Beagle Boy as a result.

The Beagle Boy accidentally drops his crossbow as he places his hands on his eyes. Nina then makes her way behind the Beagle Boy and bashes the thug on his head knocking him out instantly.

After Nina takes care of the Beagle Boy, Kanata lunges at the other Beagle Boy and delivers two slashes though the thug is able to block the attack. "This will be over soon," the swordsman/samurai-classed boy suddenly smiles as he poses his samurai stance. "**Jūdotoratsume!**" Kanata executes a slightly slow, but powerful horizontal slash that easily cuts the thug's rapier in half.

Kanata then points his katana at the Beagle Boy's neck. "So... What was that about 'this should be easy' again?" Kanata taunts the Beagle Boy in a calm tone as he slowly moves his katana toward the thug.

"Oh forget it!" the Beagle Boy yelps nervously as he sees the brown-haired boy sheathes his blade and clenches his fists. "I had it with this! I'm outta here!" the thug turns around quickly and runs toward the pathway leading down the hills. Unfortunately, someone suddenly lands directly at the Beagle Boy knocking both out. The one who falls from the sky is actually the short Beagle Boy.

Kanata unsheathes his weapon as he turns around looking for Nina to see if she's okay. To his relief, Nina is indeed alright. She's standing next to an unconscious Beagle Boy.

At the same time, Kanon charges at Waluigi, who's carrying a box of explosives. Surprisingly, Waluigi is more agile than he looks as he's able to evade Kanon's attacks easily. Despite his advantages, Kanon is much stronger than Waluigi if it comes to physical strength.

Waluigi uses a special type of grenade that explodes upon contact with any solid objects.

"Take this, kid!" Waluigi suddenly throws two grenades at Kanon. The latter quickly rolls to the left dodging the grenades before it explodes. Just when he thinks he's safe, he quickly notices a Bob-omb standing next to him.

Kanon immediately tries to run again, but it's too late as the little walking bomb explodes sending him flying across the field. Once he crashes on ground, Kanon quickly stands up and faces Waluigi.

"Huh, the kid wants more pain? Oh ho fine," Waluigi snickers as he takes out a pair of large boomerangs and puts the box down on the ground, "Then Waluigi says the kid can have these!" The tall, skinny plumber tosses the boomerangs.

Kanon notices that each boomerang contains six mini dynamites.

He quickly runs across the field toward Waluigi. As the boomerangs are closed in, Kanon ducks evading the boomerangs though the brigade member has to hurry to reach the purple plumber before the explosive boomerangs reach him from behind. Unfortunately, Waluigi dodges his attacks.

"You call that an attack?" Waluigi taunts Kanon as the former hops backward, "My mama can swing faster than you!"

Waluigi tosses three grenades at once. Kanon quickly runs backward evading the grenades in time. Afterwards, he ducks as the boomerangs are closing in from behind. When the boomerangs pass by him, they explode and its shock wave sends Kanon slightly backwards.

Afterwards, he sets his eyes on the tall, sneaky plumber who suddenly throws more and more grenades while placing Bob-Ombs on the ground at the same time.

Kanon is able to dodge the explosives though the Bob-Ombs are much more difficult to take care of as they explodes when they're close to Kanon by an inch. Every time he slashes Waluigi's grenade, it explodes.

More and more grenades are thrown at Kanon and he can't do this much longer.

"Say goodbye!" Waluigi throws an array of his special grenades at Kanon. Just when Kanon is about to dodge them again, his friend, Noel, suddenly arrives to his aid and fires her large pistols at the grenades, blowing them up in an instant. Next, she fires the remaining Bob-Ombs.

"I got you covered!" Noel prompts Kanon to move into Waluigi while she takes care of the explosives. "Got it," Kanon acknowledges as he moves toward the sneaky plumber.

"Hey, that's cheating! Two against one!" Waluigi complains.

With Kanon runs directly at Waluigi, the latter quickly throws more grenades and the boomerang. However, Noel fires her pistols to take out the grenades clearing Kanon's path. They both also duck to evade the explosive boomerang along the way.

Despite their teamwork, Kanon still have trouble attacking Waluigi. Their enemy even dodges Noel's bullets without any problem.

"Hah, do you really think you can lay a finger on Waluigi, the superstar?" Waluigi taunts them as he gets slightly far from Kanon, "Waluigi is untouchable!"

"Now, let the superstar show you how grown-ups fight!" While Waluigi is about to pick a new type of explosive from his box, both Kanon and Noel dodge the hurling boomerang that's about to hit from behind.

Just when the sneaky plumber picks up a blue-colored grenade with the upside-down 'L' initial on it, he immediately notices his boomerang hurling at him.

"Oh... Mamamia," Waluigi utters with a dumbfounded smile. As soon the boomerang closes on the plumber by an inch, it explodes. Because Waluigi carries the box of explosives, his entire explosives give out. The area around Waluigi is now covered in black smoke.

As soon as the smoke clears, Kanon and Noel find Waluigi covered in black dusts and sizzling. Waluigi gives a goofy smile as he drops on the ground.

At the same time in another part of the opened field, Kyuu is lying on the ground. The boy groans as he's about to stand up until Wario appears in front of him and butt stomps on his abdomen pinning him.

"Wario Time!" Wario begins to punch Kyuu comically. The latter tries to shove the former aside, but with no result as Wario is far stronger than Kyuu in physical strength despite his small size.

Things look hopeless for Kyuu until Dark Magician Girl appears next to Wario and she swings her wand in a golf style bashing the obese plumber aside.

"T-Thanks," Kyuu said as he rubs his face in pain. Dark Magician Girl only stares at the DDS boy before she turns her attention to Wario.

"Whoa, you wanna rumble, toots?" Wario smiles deviously.

Wario performs his signature shoulder charge intending to hit the young magician and the detective boy.

Kyuu sees that Dark Magician Girl places the top of her wand on the ground and starts chanting in a quiet tone. Just by the look of her action, the boy quickly deduces her next move and realizes that it's a bad idea since their opponent is Wario. He may not be a gamer, but he knows some of the Mario character's trait.

"Dark Magician Girl, don't use that spell!"  
Unfortunately, the magician ignores the boy's warning as she finishes the chant causing the ground in front of Wario to freeze. The obese plumber slips over the icy ground. When he drops to the ground, it surprisingly causes a slight shock wave that sends both Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl bounce into the air then crash to the ground.

"Hah," Wario chuckles as he suddenly stands up. He's surprisingly unharmed. "Like that move's gonna work on me. Here I go!" Wario continues his shoulder charge. As soon as Dark Magician Girl stands up, Wario is already in front of her and his shoulder charge sends her flying into the ground and crashes once again to the ground. "Have a rotten day!" Wario gleefully shouts as he shoulder charges at Kyuu.

Quick to response, Kyuu rolls to the left to evade Wario's shoulder charge.

The boy intends to summon his gauntlets again.  
As soon as he does so, he charges at Wario attempting to punch him. However, the latter easily counters as he holds the boy's fist and throws him aside.

Wario then attempts to stomp the boy with his butt again. Before he can do so, a large bolt of lightning from above suddenly strikes Wario paralyzing him in an instant.

As the boy from the real world gets up, he sees that the caster is Dark Magician Girl waving at him.

The boy acknowledges as he runs straight toward Wario. Kyuu swings his fists three times and delivers a heavy punch stunning the obese plumber though the latter quickly recovers.

"Why you- YOU ASK FOR IT!"  
Wario intends to punch Kyuu with his muscular fist until a large chunk of ice hits directly on Wario's behind, freezing the latter in instant. Kyuu then delivers another punch breaking Wario out of the ice. The impact stuns obese plumber as he leans backward in dazed.

Kyuu is about to deliver the next blow hoping to finish Wario, but from that moment, they hear an animalistic howl. In fact, everyone recognizes the howl.

"Wait, that... Sound..."

The rest of the brigade face toward the western direction where the howl seems to be coming from. The other defeated opponents slowly recover as they do the same.

They find another pack of Velocipreys ascending the hills and they're very close to the opened field. This time, the number within the pack is twice the number as the previous pack they had encountered. Due to their fight, it attracts unwanted attention.

"Oh snap, not those guys again!" Wario yells as he flees to the path just behind the lone tree followed by his comrades.

Kyuu and his friends look at each other, now facing a dilemma between their lives and the success of their assignment.

Dark Magician Girl steps backward with a stressful expression written all over her face. She is completely overflowed with fear as she doesn't want to die on her first day in the guild, yet at the same time, she doesn't want to fail.

Once she goes backward by one step, Dark Magician Girl feels like she's stepping on something. She looks down only to see a familiar flower that's suddenly wither away upon contact with her foot. "T-This... This is..." she quickly turns her head around while looking down and finds ten more similar flowers.

"Everyone!" she suddenly shouts gaining her new friends' attention. "I-I found the Ongerepts!"

"Great!" Kyuu cries in relief as he turns his attention to the others.

"Everyone, we can still make it through this assignment!" Kyuu glances at Nina, "Nina, help DMG and dig one of the flowers out!" After hearing the order, the Ultra Maniac girl nods as she quickly runs to Dark Magician Girl's side. She picks up her backpack and takes out a flowerpot. "Everyone else! Form a circle around them! We have to protect them 'til they get one of the flowers out!" Kyuu shouts as he quickly runs to the two girls alongside the others.

With the brigade members forming a circle around Dark Magician Girl and Nina, they pose their defensive stance preparing to fight the pack.

"Here they come!" Kite shouts when the Velocipreys march forth.

The young combatants fight the raptor-like creatures while in their current position making sure that none of the monsters attack Dark Magician Girl and Nina.

Kyuu, although not an experienced fighter, is able to defend himself as he punches one Velociprey at a time when it tries to attack. If two or three creatures decide to attack Kyuu, he has Kanata positioned next to him as the brown-haired boy executes a horizontal slash knocking the creatures backward.

Kanon has to be the most brutal as, not only he cuts the creatures down one by one, but he also uses his fist to punch them on their abdomens and hurls them directly at their own kind.

Sakura uses the same style as Kyuu, using her own fists. Unlike the latter, she's able to fight by herself without the others' help.

Kite is probably the best among the brigade as his unmatched speed and strength give the Velocipreys a hard time fighting him.

Finally, Noel has no hard time at all as she fires her pistols continuously at the raptor-like monsters. Her accuracy is almost precise as she shots the creatures by their vital spots finishing them off in an instant.

Despite their skills, they can't do this forever as their fight will draw attention of other Velociprey packs.

Nina and Dark Magician Girl are doing their best to dig one out. The girls eventually manage to dig an Ongerept out of its ground and place it on the pot without touching it.

"We got it!" they both shout simultaneously.

"Alright, everyone! Let's move!" The brigade quickly departs from the top with Nina carries the flowerpot.

The creatures still surround them, but Kite and Kanata are able to cut their path leading to the descending pathway. The brigade quickly take the path until they reach below.

They follow the trail marks that Kyuu made earlier since they'll lead the brigade out of the forest with the Velocipreys on their trail. Without looking back, they continue to run faster since they're running out of time.

However, their chase also attracts the attention of other packs, which causes the Velocipreys to join the chase much to the brigade's dismay.

Running for their lives, they appear to be in the middle zone of the forest. The chase feels intense for the brigade as they keep running without looking back even forcing their legs to keep moving. They can't slow down or else they'll be surrounded by the creatures, which will cut their escape route.

Suddenly, Dark Magician Girl trips over a large rock hidden in the ground. "DMG!" Kyuu and the others turn around, they see the Velocipreys are closing in.

"No, don't worry about me!" Dark Magician Girl shouts at the brigade, "I'll catch up!Just go and take the Ongerept back safely!"

The brigade hesitates to do listen to the young magician's demand as the Velocipreys are getting closer. In a few seconds, the creatures will catch up with them.

Before any of the brigade members can react to their current situation, Kyuu suddenly runs toward Dark Magician Girl.

"K-Kyuu! What're you doing!" the magician yells as a Velociprey reaches her and attempts to stomp her with its curved claws on its feet. Fortunately, the DDS boy reaches her in time as he punches the creature on its stomach with his gauntlet, knocking it out in an instant.

The others suddenly arrive too as they push back the Velocipreys. However, as a result, the other Velocipreys surround the brigade, cutting off their only escape route.

"I'm not letting anyone left behind," Kyuu said to Dark Magician Girl as he helps her up, "Especially a good friend from our brigade."

The magician stares at the young boy with a slightly surprised look on her face. Kyuu suddenly tells Dark Magician Girl to prepare herself as the Velocipreys are circling around the brigade.

Kanata and Noel stay close to Nina, who's holding the flowerpot containing the rare flower, while the others dash toward the raptor-like creatures attacking the latter...

* * *

**Densel Town**

**Nusty Guild/Lobby**

Few hours have passed and it's nearly sunset.

Piccolo stands near the counter waiting for the brigade to come back.

The people who are in the guild are Judith, who's at the counter, with Mario and Sonic sitting at their favorite table. Others include Donald and Daffy Ducks playing cards, and Super Macho Man who's lifting a pair of dumbbells.

Judith looks at the clock and notices that it's 6:33 o'clock.  
The sun usually sets at 6:35.

"_Where are they? They're taking too long,"_ Judith wonders.

"Huh, they sure take their time, they've been out for the entire day," Daffy said while looking at his cards. "Can you blame 'em, Daf? They're looking for a rare flower and the Blackwood Forest's crawling with Velocipreys," Sonic adds.

"Hey, what do you think with the new brigade?" Donald suddenly asks.  
"Let's see... Three of them are with us from the beginning, three of 'em have joined not too long ago, and the last two are newcomers," Daffy said to Donald.

"Kite's probably the best among them, he is becoming more like a man!" Super Macho Man as he places the dumbbells on the floor and starts to flex his muscles, "Like me!"

"Yeah right, buster. Says the guy who gets beaten by a shortie," Daffy said in a mocking tone much to the muscle builder's chagrin.

Moments have passed...

Ace Ventura arrives at the lobby from the second floor.  
"Hey there, Ace," Sonic waves his hand at the pet detective, "Where ya going?"

"Nature's calling!" Ace runs for the door and upon reaching it, the door suddenly opens flattening the Jim Carrey character between the door and the wall.

It's actually the Twilight Brigade beyond the door as they enter the guild.

"W-We made it... Everyone..." Kyuu utters in an exhausted tone as he, Dark Magician Girl, Noel, and Nina kneel on the floor. Kanata and Sakura suddenly lie down on the floor while Kite and Kanon are still standing, though they're exhausted like the rest of the brigade. "Somehow... We've managed to survive..." Kanon utters in a similar exhausted tone.

"Hey, welcome back!" Sonic stands up alongside Mario, "How's-a mission going?" Mario asks. The two famous video game characters quickly notice the teens are really exhausted. Most of them are covered in bruises and dirt.

Judith smiles and she's somewhat relieved seeing the teens are back safe and sound, but importantly, they have the Ongerept in Nina's flowerpot. However, they have a problem, a big problem.

Piccolo approaches the brigade with his usual brooding expression.

The Namekian stares at the teens prompting them to stand up.

"We've finally got the Ongerept, Piccolo," Kyuu said to Piccolo as Nina hands over the said flower to the Namekian, "It wasn't easy... But we got it."

"And do you really think you've passed... When you're already late?" Piccolo said in an ominous tone as he points outside the window. The sun has already sat as the time is 6:41 PM.

"I told you to get here before sunset, but you didn't come here on time. Hence, you've failed!" Piccolo shouts in an angry tone as he points his index finger at the shocked brigade.

"As punishment, you kids are not going to receive your reward!" Piccolo shouts at them much to their dismay. However, that's not all because the Namekian has an extra punishment for the brigade... He forces each of them to stand while lifting a large, metallic cubes that weighs a ton. Except for Dark Magician Girl and Nina as they have to carry four dumbbells at once.

"Stand like that for two hours! Drop them or kneel down, I'll give you all an extra hour!" Piccolo shouts.

The Twilight Brigade moans in disappointment. Kyuu, Dark Magician Girl, Noel, and Nina start to weep out of their misery.

"_T-This is wrong! This is just wrong!" _Kyuu thought to himself with a miserable look written on his face.

"Mamamia, isn't-a Piccolo acting harsh on them?" Mario asks Sonic with a whisper. "Hey, it's Piccolo, Mario. What do you expect from him, a little mercy?" Sonic whispers back.

"Then again," Sonic turns his attention to the teens who are suffering from lifting the heavy cubes, "They're already doomed from the start."

"But I gotta say... They actually did a good job retrieving that rare flower."

_Few hours later..._

**Home**

"Ugh... I'd never been this exhausted," Kyuu moans as he sits on the sofa.

The brigade isn't so lucky with Piccolo as they have to stand lifting the heavy cubes for hours. It's because some of them actually kneel out of exhaustion, which results them having more hours to stand until 1:15 AM.

They're all at the living room with Kyuu as they sit on their respective chairs.

Silence takes over the atmosphere. The teens have no idea what to say to each other as they feel bad that they've failed their very first assignment as a brigade of the guild.

Kyuu looks at his friends one by one feeling that he should say something to cheer them up. After all, he shares the blame since he has done his part of the mission poorly.

As soon as he talks, everyone else suddenly says exactly what he is going to say: "I'm sorry."

That slightly surprises the brigade.  
"...No, I'm the one who should be sorry," Kyuu said to his brigade, "If I wasn't so weak, I wouldn't slow everyone down. We should've separated from the first place and we could've had the chance to..."

"No, it's not your fault," Dark Magician Girl suddenly speaks up. It attracts the attention of the DDS boy who's a bit surprised to see her smiling softly at him. "It's my fault. I... I was really mad that I didn't think straight. But you weren't wrong about staying close together. If we had split up into groups, we wouldn't be here alive."

Soon after, the others begin to admit their mistakes too.

For Kanon, Kanata and Sakura, they weren't focused that they're not aware of their situations and it almost got them hurt. Noel and Nina's mistakes were their lack of confidence. Lastly, Kite's mistake was his strength, he admits that he's not strong enough to aid his friends when they need him the most.

Now that they think about it, they could actually succeed the mission if they had worked together. That is their greatest mistake... Their lack of teamwork.

"It seems that we all have our mistakes," Kite said as he stands up like Kyuu. His tone appears to be more confident than the rest. "So what if we fail this assignment? We still can do better in the next assignments. If we truly work together as a brigade, perhaps we have the chance to succeed."

Kite's words have lifted the Twilight Brigade's spirits.

Each of them promises to hone their skills and learn more about the things in Rakenzarn, so in the next mission, they will not fail. Perhaps their failure isn't a loss after all as they learn something important from this experience.

With that aside, they revert to their usual selves.

The next thing they want to do to end their day is food since they haven't eaten the entire day.

"So who's turn to cook dinner?" Kyuu asks in a cheerful tone.  
"If you like, I can cook one for you," Noel answers, but Kite and the others (except for DMG, of course) suddenly shout, "NO!"

Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl are befuddled by their reaction as Kanata whispers at them, "You really don't wanna try her cooking. Unless you're looking for a quick death."

"...Ooookay," the two said simultaneously.

-/-

Later that night, while Kanon is cooking dinner, Kyuu is at their house's rooftop staring at the night sky.

He can see the stars and moon clearly, which is a beautiful scenery to watch. It reminds the DDS boy of his time at the real world in the wilderness.

"Hey, Kyuu?" a voice suddenly calls him. Kyuu looks to his right and finds Dark Magician Girl sitting beside him.

"What're you doing here?" she asks.  
"Me? I just want to get some fresh after," he answers her, "You know, after what happened today, I can use some fresh air. It always clear my mind."

Dark Magician Girl looks above the night sky. Like Kyuu, she does find the view beautiful. Staring at the night sky for a while, Dark Magician Girl feels much calmer while reminiscing today's adventure. However, that also means that she remembers the morning incident and the times she refused to accept Kyuu's apology. Now that her mind is clear, she looks at the boy and calls him.

"I'm sorry," she said to him, though he doesn't seem to be surprised at all. Instead, he smiles at her. "I... I really am sorry for treating you like that. It's just... It's just you're the-" the boy suddenly raises his index finger with his left eye closed signaling the female magician not to say it anymore as he said, "Not a problem."

"But you did a pretty good job back there," Kyuu said to her, "Your spells look really awesome."

"R-Really? I-It's nothing," Dark Magician Girl is flattered by the boy's comment on her face as she blushes for a second, "I still have a lot to learn about other spells and magical objects."

Now it's the magician's turn as she said to him, "You did a good job too, Kyuu. You're becoming more and more of a detective. You might be capable of becoming our brigade's leader."

"W-What? Dark Magician Girl, t-thanks but that's too much." that alone surprises Kyuu. He is happy about her first comment, but a leader, that's just too forced. He decides to ignore the second comment.

"Hey... Thanks for saving me," she said to him in quiet, yet grateful tone.

"No prob. The important thing is that we're fine," Kyuu said to her with a smile. In turn, she smiles back at him. "We'll just do our best in the next assignment. I know we will, Dark Magician Girl."

"...Actually, Kyuu," she calls him in a soft tone.  
"You... You can call me 'DMG.' I... Kinda like that name."

The boy smiles.  
"Okay. DMG it is."

Afterwards, they look at the night sky once again, mainly the pale view of the moon.

After watching the sky for a while, Dark Magician Girl speaks up and looks at Kyuu eye-to-eye.

Few minutes have passed as they enjoy their time together. The DDS boy's friendship with the Yu-Gi-Oh! character has gradually grown stronger.

All the sudden, they hear the sound of front door opening. They look below the rooftop and find Kanon who's looking for the two. The Umineko character notices the two up in the rooftop.

"So there you are," Kanon suddenly jumps really high reaching the rooftop. "Dinner's ready," he immediately said to the two.

-/-

Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl enter the house alongside Kanon.  
They find the table is full of the very same Japanese cuisines from yesterday, only twice the amount. Everyone else is already at the table waiting for the three.

Dark Magician Girl slowly approaches the table looking at the food.

Excited for the food, Kyuu runs for his seat until he accidentally tips over. The boy yelps.

"Huh?" Dark Magician Girl, who's halfway to the table, turns around facing Kyuu, "What's wr-"

In a comical moment, Kyuu falls over across the living room and ends up crashing onto Dark Magician Girl, pinning both down. Oh, it only gets worse as Kyuu's face lands directly on her 'Forbidden Fruit.'

Realizing what has just happened, Kyuu quickly stands up and moves away from Dark Magician Girl as fast as he can. Everyone else stares at the awkward scene.

"...Kyuu..." the young magician utters in a threatening tone. She lowers her head and slowly stands up while giving out an ominous aura that terrifies the boy completely. "D-DMG, wait! I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean it!" Kyuu nervously said as he slowly backs away. The magician slowly approaches him with her wand in hand.

"...I... I gotta go, so see ya!" Kyuu quickly exits the house and runs for his life as Dark Magician Girl starts to chase him. "I'M SO GONNA KILL YOU, YOU PERVERT!" She yells loudly as her wand unleashes flames as if it's a flamethrower.

The others can only stare at the two running around outside the house.

"Huh, what a way to end the day," Kanata said.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

Somewhere at the Blackwood Forest in the middle of the night, there is hidden grotto.

A mysterious seal is seen somewhere within the grotto as a strange light shines upon the seal. When it begins to shine brighter, part of the wall behind it suddenly slides open revealing to be a secret gateway.

Once it opens, a fearsome growl echoes from inside...

_**End of Chapter**_

**-XX-**

**A/N:  
**That's the end of their first assignment though it doesn't end in a good note. Hopefully, their next mission fares much better.

Here's a challenge for you readers. Some chapters have italicized letter on some words. They are actually cryptograms that will tell you the underlined plot behind each 'saga' and gives you clues on the saga's villain.

The cryptogram use a Caesar cipher, so use that to solve the hidden messages.

Until then, see you at the next chapter!

The **Velocipreys** that appear in this chapter are from the game, Monster Hunter.

"_NLGQDS"_


	6. Chapter 4: Child Nap part 1

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own some of the characters in the story. The characters that will appear in this fic are owned by their respective owners. There will also be OCs that are owned by their respective authors.

-/-

_No secrets this time..._

_The identity is yet to known..._

**Rakenzarn Tales**

**-/-**

**-Cyril Region-  
Densel Town**

Birds soar higher throughout the sky, crossing the town just below. The sky is a dark, cloudless ocean of midnight blues. There are a thousand of stars almost covering the empty sky.

There are still some people walking across town. Most of them want to have dinner at the local restaurants, some of them are on their way home, and the rest are having dates.

Other than the locals, the guard division of the Knights are patrolling all over town, looking out for the people and securing the town's safety.

It is quite peaceful, really. The locals seem to enjoy their time, wanting to live out the best as they can.

A young, beautiful woman in your-every-day generic dress walks across the street looking for someone. She appears to be very frantic as she asks the civilians repeatedly the same question...

"Have you seen my son?"

Unfortunately, none of the people see her son. She even describes her son's appearance but the results remain the same.

She continues to search the street in the night for her son while calling out her son's name.

At the same time, her son is at the other side of the street, much farther than her location. The particular street is devoid of any civilians and even the Knights. However, her son isn't alone. The woman's son is talking to a stranger... An ugly, large-nosed man in a colorful robe with a black hat, shirt, and long pants who offers the little boy various lollipops.

The child can't believe to see so much lollipops especially the stranger offers them for free.

The stranger, speaking with a German accent, tells the boy that he has much more candies at his wagon nearby and he can take the latter there where he can have them as much as he likes. The man makes it more tempting when he starts to tell the woman's child that he has many different kinds of lollipops.

Eventually, the child gives in and follows the child.

"Come along now, my good boy," the man skips happily forward through the street with the little boy following him until they reaches the stranger's wagon. The stranger also has a black horse in front of the wagon.

The child immediately runs forth to the wagon.

When the little boy enters the wagon, he is surprised to find nothing inside. From that moment, the stranger suddenly shuts the wagon's door trapping the child inside.

"M-Mister? Mister?!" the child screams as he bangs on the door, "What're you doing?! L-Let me out!"

The stranger ignores the child's pleas as he hops on the wagon's cart and whips the horse prompting the animal to run, pulling the wagon. The stranger rides off to the night.

At the rooftop of one of the larger houses, a mysterious man stands and watches the wagon rides away. He appears to be in a red protective costume consisting of yellow quilt patches on the top and a visor. The man is armed with a pair of semi-mechanical gauntlets. Lying next to the mysterious man are two unconscious guards with their armors battered and broken.

"Boss, do you copy?" the man, speaking in deep southern accent, contacts his unknown employer via his earpiece communicator. "He's got them kids now."

"_Oooh, good! Good job, my friend! That's another kid down!__"_

"So how long are we going to keep this up, boss?" the man asks.  
_"__You'll know, soon enough. Just keep the Knights away from 'you-know-what.'__"_

"You got it. As long as I'm paid well. And by the way," the man turns his attention to the knocked out guards, "We best be callin' for more boys to help with this plan of yours, boss."

-Chapter 4 part 1-  
-Child Nap-

**Home**

The next morning, Kyuu is still in his bed.  
Like before, his room is slightly dark with the lights off with only a small ray of sunlight shines through the window, between the curtains.

Next to the boy's bed is a small desk. Atop of it, there are a flowerpot containing some flowers, the mysterious book, and a digital alarm clock.

Once it sets to 6:30 AM, the clock rings.

Kyuu slowly opens his eyes and immediately gets up from his bed.  
"Today's the day," the boy stretches his arms and his legs. He is still in his white long-sleeve shirt and shorts, which he usually wear when he's going to sleep.

He opens up the curtains and looks outside through the window. The town's view in the sunrise is nice, on par with the night view. He can see people exiting their houses and walk around, doing their everyday routines.

Looking up, he finds the sky completely in blue with no clouds in sight. It is a beautiful morning, indeed.

Kyuu then looks down and finds two of his new friends, Kite and Sakura, training outside the house. While both are in their usual clothes, the former isn't wearing his hat. It's on the bench on the house's wall alongside a few things.

Both game characters practice with their fists, no weapons at all. The two are surprisingly matched though their skills are different. Sakura is quite agile and strong. Her fighting style is Ansatsuken, able to manipulate ki successfully making her a formidable opponent. In reality, she's actually self-taught. Kite is both strong and fast making him one of the strongest in the brigade. Unlike Sakura who lacks real training, Kite is fully experienced making him more of a challenge for the Street Fighter character.

However, both have their own weaknesses. Kite's only problem is that he can be taken down easily if he's not careful while Sakura's lack of training can make her an easy target for more experienced fighters.

Sakura throws a few punches and kicks though Kite evades them at ease and counter with a quick jab followed by a kick. The girl charges again and throws another variety of punches. The result is almost the same expect for Sakura is able to counter Kite.

They both immediately slides backward and deliver a punch simultaneously. As a result, their fists collide against each other, giving out a slightly small force that almost send both backwards.

Afterwards, Kite and Sakura engage in a fist fight once again.

The young boy continues to watch the two game characters sparring, amazed by their powers and strengths. He eventually declares he has enough since he also has something to do. He immediately changes to his usual outfit and goes downstairs into the living room.

Once he arrives at the room, he finds Kanata sitting on the couch reading a book.

"Huh, you're up early," Kanata said when he notices the detective boy.

"Of course!" Kyuu cheerfully shouts back.

Apparently, Kyuu wants to train to become even stronger. Even though his deductive skills are amazing, he can't stay weak since there are countless of dangers in this world that may happen at any time. Kyuu can't always count on his new friends for protection forever, he needs to defend for himself at times. It's something he learns from their first assignment... The hard way.

Ever since then, Kyuu decides to become stronger so he won't be a burden to his brigade.

"Kanata, are you ready?" Kyuu asks the brown-haired boy.

The boy in the kimono stares at the young detective directly at his eyes. Seeing sheer determination in his eyes, Kanata puts his book on the couch and stands up.

"Let's get to it, then," Kanata said turning toward Kyuu.

"By the way, what's that book you're reading?" The detective boy points at the book on the couch.

"Just a little research for our today's training," the brown-haired boy immediately answers.

-/-

Kyuu and his friend train at the back of the house.

Since the detective fanatic isn't exactly a fighter type, the first thing they should do is some basic exercises.

For now, the detective boy does some push-ups, sit-ups, and jogs. It's quite simple, really.

The next exercise is punching a practice dummy. In addition, Kanata stands right behind the DDS boy and the latter has to evade the brown-haired boy's scabbard. It should be a good for Kyuu to strengthen his muscles and his flexibility. The first time he has done so, the results are usually Kyuu getting hit by the scabbard and tripping over numerous times. He has been doing it for about a week and his progress slowly improves, able to dodge the scabbard more often than before.

After practice on the dummy for an hour, Kanata decides that they have enough doing the same training routine. In fact, the pretty boy decides that the detective boy is ready for the next lesson.

"Alright, Kyuu. Go and summon one of your gauntlets," Kanata said to him.

Kyuu does so, summoning the crimson gauntlet on his right hand.

"Now then, concentrate your mind."  
"Huh? My... Mind?"  
"Trust me on this one. Just close your eyes first and then hold out your gauntlet."

"Okay," Kyuu nods as he does exactly Kanata tells him to do. Once he closes his eyes, he raises his right arm aiming it forward.

"Good. Now imagine this," Kanata gets behind Kyuu, "Imagine what you're holding isn't a gauntlet, but a sword. A real sword, not a made-up sword."

"_A sword?"_ Kyuu thought to himself.  
Without a second thought, he decides to do it as he trusts his new friend completely. He always has a wild imagination, so it shouldn't be too hard for him to imagine a sword. That is when he feels something flowing all over his arm.

The more he imagines the sword, the warmer the flow until he feels something strange in his right hand.

Nearly three seconds later, the gauntlet in his hand suddenly engulf in blue light. It slowly shapes into a form of a longsword from the Renaissance era. The pommel, just beneath the sword's grip, has a small oval-shaped crystal.

Kyuu is clearly surprised when he opens his eyes and seeing the newly formed sword. Kanata smiles as he's satisfied with the results.

"Looks like it's true," Kanata said gaining Kyuu's attention, "Arxus Rogues are able to summon different weapons if they focus their mind to form them. You have a pretty strong mind, so you can summon another weapon other than the gauntlets."

Hearing Kanata's explanations, the detective fanatic recalls his first meeting with the brigade. Sakura had mentioned that Arxus Rogues could use more weapons other than the gauntlets. She wasn't kidding at all now that Kyuu has seen the true capability of an Arxus Rogue.

"While your gauntlets are effective for close combat and counterattacks, you'll be at a disadvantage against enemies that can attack at long range. That's where the sword comes in handy," Kanata points his index finger at the fine sword prompting Kyuu to look at his new weapon, "It is the most basic weapon for everyone. You can fight in close combat and deflect projectiles with its sharp blade."

"But there's a catch," Kanata suddenly said gaining Kyuu's attention once again, "You should stick with the gauntlet and sword for now. You see, changing weapons and summon much stronger weapons can drain your stamina."

"Looks like you've been doing your research," Kyuu compliments his brown-haired friend. The detective fanatic suspects that the book his friend reads earlier might be about Arxus Rogues. When Kyuu asks Kanata about it, the latter bluntly answers with a nod.

"So how long have you been researching the Arxus Rogues?" Kyuu asks.  
"Ever since our first assignment," Kanata answers bluntly.

"S-Seriously?"  
"Hey, since we're in this together, at least we should help each other. I'm just helping you out."

"I see... Thanks, Kanata."

Kanata nods.

"Well then, now that we're done with the lecture," Kanata suddenly picks up two bokkens, Japanese wooden swords. "Let's start the next lesson," the brown-haired boy tosses Kyuu the bokken as the former goes into his offensive stance, "Sword fight!"

"A-Already?" Kyuu asks in a shocked expression as he barely catches the wooden sword. In turn, the detective boy drops his longsword, which disappears quickly when it hits the ground. "Hey, you said you want to get stronger. No complaints," Kanata smirks as he suddenly charges forth. Kyuu yelps hilariously as he quickly ducks, barely evading the attack. Unfortunately, Kanata kicks Kyuu sending him backwards.

"O-Ow!" Kyuu yelps painfully holding his face while in the ground.

"Down already?" Kanata bluntly asks as he approaches the pinned detective boy. "Well, look on the bright side, at least we have a punching bag for everyone here," Kanata said with a straight face.

Kyuu suddenly gets up and holds on the bokken's grip tighter, preparing for a second round.

Kyuu delivers the first attack. However, he focuses too much on attacking his opponent directly that he has little control over his footing. As a result, Kanata blocks the former's wooden sword and counter by hitting his wooden sword's hilt on Kyuu's forehead. Kanata then moves away from Kyuu.

The detective fanatic recovers quickly and he charges again at Kanata. The result remains the same as the boy in the kimono counters again.

"Oh sure, keep attacking me. That'll work someday, I bet," Kanata taunts Kyuu again with a straight face.

Kyuu gets up once again. This time, he takes a different approach. He slowly walks toward Kanata while keeping his guard up. The boy's opponent can clearly see that he's hesitated to attack. Well, the detective boy has never fought anything in his life and he's already get butt handed to him, what do you expect from him?

In any case, as soon as Kyuu is halfway to Kanata, the latter lunges at Kyuu in such great speed with his bokken already in position pointing the wooden blade upward. Kanata then execute a downward slash. Because of Kanata's sudden movement and his speed, Kyuu has no time to defend against such an attack. Thus, the brown-haired boy's bokken hits directly at the young detective's head.

Feeling much more pain on his head, the detective boy drops on the ground with bottom landed first. During the fall, Kyuu drops his bokken.

"T-That hurts," Kyuu moans in pain while rubbing his head.

"What were you thinking?" Kanata approaches the detective kid, "You got two flaws. One, you focus too much on attack. That's gonna leave you wide open for a counterattack. Second, you hesitate to attack me. You have to be brave and strike down your opponent down. A little hesitation would leave you wide open."

Kyuu is silent, staring at his new friend. The brown-haired boy has good points about him.

The boy from the romance-comedy manga series helps the young detective up his feet and said, "Looks like you're not ready for this kind of combat."

"L-Let me try again," Kyuu quickly said as he walks backward slowly before he poses to his offensive stance again.

"Whatever you say, just don't blame me if you get hurt," Kanata also poses to his offensive stance, more like a samurai stance.

Before they can continue their training, they sense a sudden presence as a small, blue figure suddenly comes across between the two much to their surprise. "Whoa, is my timing bad?" the figure asks immediately once it realizes that the two teens are training.

It's only a short time for either of them look closely at the blue figure. The DDS boy immediately recognizes the figure as Sega's mascot.

"Sonic?" he utters the video game mascot's name.

"That's right," the blue hedgehog motions his hand and points his thumb to his own chest, "Sonic's the name, speed's my game!"

The blue hedgehog with the attitude is live as usual. Kyuu notices that the blue hedgehog is wearing a backpack.

"Heh, guess everyone here told you about me," Sonic assumes so. In reality, Kyuu knows the famous blue hedgehog in the real world, not from Kanata and the others. The detective boy glances at Kanata who merely shrugs. Kyuu then turns his attention to the famous blue hedgehog until he notices a trashcan nearby. Strangely, he doesn't remember there's one near the house.

"So this is where you all live, huh?" Sonic asks as he looks at the large house, noting its ranch-style interior designs and the environment around it. Both Kyuu and Kanata nod as a response. "Not bad, not bad at all," Sonic compliments the house.

"Say, what're you doing here?" Kanata asks bluntly.

"Just wanna check on you guys," the hedgehog turns his attention to the brown-haired boy, "You got me worried from that fiasco last week. I thought you're going emo on us, but looks like you're not."

"You... Worried about us?" Kyuu asks in a slightly surprised tone.  
"Well, yeah. We may be from different brigades, it doesn't we should look out for each other," Sonic answers in a carefree tone.

"But there's another reason I'm here... But I totally forgot what is it," the blue hedgehog said while scratching his head trying to remember it. Sonic eventually motions his hand off from his head and looks at the boys saying, "Oh well, maybe I'll remember it later."

"So Sonic, you wanna come inside?" Kanata asks as he approaches Kyuu and takes the latter's wooden sword. "Sure, I'm off-duty anyways. I have a lot of time."

"Good," Kanata turns his attention to Kyuu, "We'll take a break from our training. Next round's this afternoon."

Before either of the three can go inside the house, they suddenly feel another presence in the area. They turn around and find a very beautiful woman who appears to be in her mid 20s. She wears a faded, dark purple peacock with pink dress. She also has long, brown hair that reaches her shoulders.

"Excuse me, is this where the Twilight Brigade lives?" the woman asks kindly.

-/-

"Where did you get all of these?" Kanon asks.

The Umineko character is in one of the rooms inside the house with Noel by his side. He's staring at Dark Magician Girl and Nina who are reading a couple of books. It's not the thing that catches Kanon and Noel's attention, rather a bunch of books piled around the room.

"Oh, we got these from the local library," Nina immediately answers in an optimistic manner.

"Spell books, if you want to know," Dark Magician Girl adds while reading one of the books.

"I see," Kanon said back with a blank expression.  
"So... Why did you call us here?" the sullen boy suddenly asks, to which Noel also asks.

"We kinda need help here with our spells," Dark Magician Girl said as she puts down the book and approaches both Kanon and Noel alongside Nina, "If you don't mind, we like to test our spells with you."

"U-Us?" Noel utters in a stuttering voice with a surprised expression. Kanon, on the other hand, remains emotionless and calm.

"Yup," both girls answer cheerfully as Dark Magician Girl grabs her wand and points it at Kanon. "Kanon, would you please run?" she suddenly asks him. That's where the latter finally expresses emotion: a shocked one.

"DMG, what're you doing?" Kanon asks in a nervous tone as he walks backward slowly. The blonde-haired magician doesn't answer as she closes her eyes and starts chanting quietly. Her wand's orb begins to emit blue light, which Kanon interprets it as danger.

Kanon immediately turns and runs for the door, which is still open.

By the time Kanon starts to run, Nina picks up her staff and raises it while shouting, "**Ap Do**!"

A green light engulfs Kanon's body and he suddenly moves very slow. "W-What?" Kanon utters in surprise when he notices it. From that very moment, Dark Magician Girl opens her eyes and her wand unleashes five arrows of blue light. Because of the spell cast on Kanon, the blue arrows easily catch up with the Umineko character and blast him. The magical arrows send Kanon hurling across the room and crashing outside through the opened door.

It doesn't end there though. The magical arrows actually freeze Kanon's right arm and his left leg. Also in that moment, the green light fades from the boy's body.

"W-What is this?" Kanon thought as Nina approaches him. The latter casts a healing spell, which melts the ice away and healing his wound.

"It's a new spell, silly," Nina answers his thought as Dark Magician Girl and Noel exit the room approaching the Ultra Maniac and Umineko characters. "And it turns out to be a success," Dark Magician Girl adds with a smile.

Noel immediately notices that Nina is looking at her with a warm smile. Seeing the unlucky results for Kanon, the Blazblue character has a bad feeling what will happen next.

"Noel," Nina calls her name as she motions her hand pointing at the second blonde-haired girl, "Would you fire your guns over there?" The little witch then points at the wall in the end of the hallway.

"E-Eh?"  
"Just trust me on this one."

Reluctant at first, Noel eventually gives in and draws out her guns aiming at the wall. She pulls both triggers firing two bullets from her respective guns. As soon as the bullets home in across the hallway, Nina raises her staff and chants a single word, "**Oblique**!"

Orange light engulfs the bullets. Both suddenly curve around and shot the wall on the left.

Noel and Kanon are clearly surprised to see Nina's new spell.

"What... Kind of spell is that?" Noel, in an anxious tone, asks with a surprised look on her face.

"Hey, everyone!" Kyuu's voice suddenly shouts loudly, echoing the hallway, which in turn gaining everyone's attention. "We got company!"

-/-

The brigade and Sonic the Hedgehog gather together at the living room with their guest, the young woman. Each is in their respective seats.

Kanon has already prepared and served some tea for their guests. In addition to the tea, they also serve a few sweets and cakes for them. While some of them sip their tea, Kyuu notices the trashcan from outside in the house. The others don't seem to notice just yet.

"So what's your name?" Kyuu asks the stranger.

"My name is Erika Mildrage," the young woman answers in a mild manner, "You must be the Twilight Brigade. I've heard about you from the kind people at your guild."

"Our guild?" Kyuu widened his eyebrows in response to her.  
"You see, I wanted to post a job to your guild until this large, green man walked to me and told me that I should tell you the job directly," the woman explained.

A large, green man?  
That sounds awfully a lot like Piccolo.

The eight teens are silent, prompting the young woman to continue.

"I... I need you all to find my son, Jayden Mildrage."

Her request gains everyone's full attention, but the one that is particularly interested is Kanata.

"Go on," Kanata urges the woman to explain everything, starting from the very beginning.

"You see... I live here in Densel Town with my only child. My husband is on a business trip at Da'fur," the woman, Erika, hands over her family picture to the brigade. Kyuu is the one who takes and the picture as the others look at it. In the picture, they find Erika with her family, her handsome husband and her eight-year-old son.

"Three days ago, we went to the Shopping District and it was really crowded. I told Jayden to stick close to me, but we got separated when two people pushed us. I tried to find him, but I couldn't find him anywhere," Erika explains to the brigade.

"Wait a sec, another child kidnapping?" Sonic suddenly said aloud.  
"Now that you mentioned it, there have been recent children kidnappings," Kite adds.

"Hey, aren't the Knights working on this case?" Sakura immediately asks.  
"Well, they are, but so far, no progress," Kite answers.

"I tried to ask the Knights for help, but they're already busy with the missing children and those monsters. I didn't want to give more stress to the Knights, so I thought I should give this to you," the woman explains one more time.

"Please... Find him... He's my only child..." The woman suddenly takes out a large pouch containing a lot of money on the table. When I mean 'a lot,' I mean TONS of them, which surprises the brigade and the blue hedgehog.

"T-This is all the money I have. I'll give everything, just please find him!" the woman begs as she bows her head at the brigade, "I-I beg of you!"

The brigade thinks this over while Sonic watches them. They figure that the reason Piccolo send Erika Mildrage for their help is to give the brigade another chance. Another thing that motivates them to accept the job is their sympathy for their client.

Kyuu turns his attention to Kanata, who reacts very different than usual. The brown-haired boy stares at the young woman who is still bowing her head at them.

Kanata suddenly approaches Kyuu and whispers something at the latter. The former's request surprises the detective boy.

"Come on, at least do it for her," Kanata whispers back.  
Reluctant at first, the detective boy gives his request some thoughts until he eventually agrees to do it.

The brown-haired boy stands up and takes the money. To everyone's surprise (excluding Kyuu), Kanata only takes a small amount of the money, probably one-third. As for the rest, he puts them all back to the pouch and returns it to their client.

"W-What?"  
"We'll make it an exception. Think of it as a special discount."

"A-Are you serious?" The woman asks anxiously with her tone sounds seemingly relieved. Kanata responses with a nod followed by Kyuu. "You can count on us," Kanata said to Erika.

Touched by their kindness, Erika bows her head repeatedly while saying, "Thank you very much!"

-/-

After accepting the job, the woman leaves the house.

The others aren't exactly mad with Kyuu and Kanata's decision but they want to know the reason. While the brigade confronts the two for answers, Sonic stays at the sofa deciding to watch how situation goes.

"You two, why did you just take a little bit of money?" Dark Magician Girl asks pointing at the small amount of money in Kanata's hands.

"She said it's all she has, it doesn't feel right taking that away from her," Kanata answers the young magician followed by Kyuu nodding his head. "I know how it feels raising one kid when you're alone. It's not an easy job..." Kyuu adds.

"How can you tell?" Sakura asks intrigued by the detective boy's words.  
"Well... I only have a mother and I don't have a brother or sister. I know how it feels from my experience," Kyuu explains to the Street Fighter character.

"Oh? Where's your dad?" Sakura asks again. Upon asking that, she immediately notices Kyuu's expression becomes more of a sad one, which quickly answers her question. "S-Sorry, I didn't mean to ask you that," Sakura said apologetically. Kyuu doesn't mind at all as he tells her that it's okay.

"I don't know if you guys agree with us or not, but please understand our concerns for her," Kyuu suddenly said to his friends in the brigade, "So ask yourselves... Is it right to take away something that they work so hard to achieve?"

The rest of the brigade ponders over Kyuu's question except for Kite. The boy in red has already got the answer. "You have a good reason. I don't see why not," Kite suddenly said.

The others soon get their answers.

With that out of the way, they accept the small cash and decide to find the missing children.

Their resolution has impressed Sonic the Hedgehog.  
"Hey," the blue hedgehog calls the eight teens gaining their attentions, "Do ya mind if I tag along?"

"You want to come along too, Mr. Sonic?" Noel asks.

"Heck, yeah. I have lots of spare time so why not?" Sonic said back.

"S-Sure! I'm okay with it!" Kyuu yelps nervously. He can't help but feel very excited that he gets to team-up with one of the world's most famous video game icons, Sonic himself. He then turns his attention to his friends hoping to see their answers. To his relief, they all agree.

"By the way..." The DDS boy turns his attention to the trashcan in the house, "Is it not the time for you to come out now?"

Everyone in the living room turns their direction to the trashcan until a certain black duck jumps out of the litter can. "D-Daffy?!" Dark Magician Girl yells the duck's name in surprise. Some of them are a bit surprised to see the Looney Tunes' famous duck appearing out of nowhere while the others aren't really surprised such as Sonic, either they're aware of the duck's presence or they expect him to show up at this time around.

"Let me guess... You've been following Sonic, haven't you?" Kanata asks, to which Daffy admits that he's been following the hedgehog.

"And you've been listening to us the whole time, right?" Sonic also asks.  
"Well, I am the guild's best duck, bent on preserving the guild's image. And I have to say," Daffy suddenly rushes toward both Kyuu and Kanata. The duck jumps between them stepping his webbed feet on their chests respectively and grabbing them by their collars.

"Why the heck did ya hafta do that?!" Daffy yells about the boys' decision not to take all their client's money. "I am shocked! SHOCKED, I tell you! Ya could've been rich! RICH I tell ya, RICH!"

Daffy Duck then let go both of the boys as he steps down on the ground continuing to talk. "I mean, there are tons of cash out there that everyone can have. She can still get money if she works. Us guilds are the ones who need the money!"

Kyuu is stunned and speechless seeing Daffy is true to his character from the real world, craving nothing but riches and doesn't care with others.

"H-How could you say that?" Noel said loudly feeling offended by the duck's attitude though both Kanon and Sakura calm her down since it's useless to talk to the greedy duck.

"Whatever, you're not with our brigade anyway," Kanata said as he turns his back on the duck, "C'mon, let's go, guys. We got more important stuff to do."

The others agree as they all turn their directions to the front door.

"Just a parboiled minute, boys and girls!" Daffy suddenly runs forth and stand in front of the Twilight Brigade blocking their path, "I'm comin' with you on this one!"

"What?" they all said in unison.

"I ain't lettin' you go 'round with my help! I hafta make sure you don't make another mistake!" Daffy suddenly grabs a quiver, containing 'boxing glove' and dynamite arrows, and his very own bow.

"Suit yourself up," Kanata said while shrugging.  
"But please... Don't give us any trouble," Kanon said in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Hey, I ain't gonna cause no trouble," Daffy retaliates.  
"Sure, why not, kids? Let's bring the duck who blew half of the guild and owed 18,000 Gs a month ago," Sonic said to the Twilight Brigade sarcastically much to Daffy's chagrin.

"Oh shuttup, hedgehog!" Daffy retaliates again.

Kyuu is left speechless seeing that, not only Sonic is joining up in their new job, but also the famous Daffy Duck as well.

"_Something tells me this is going to be one hell of a day,"_ Kyuu thought to himself.

**Street**

The brigade, along with Sonic and Daffy, arrive at the Center District. It appears to be less crowded than before but there are more guards patrolling across town.

"So what do we do now?" Daffy asks.

"We should separate and ask the townsfolk about the kidnappings. If we can, we need to talk to the other victims," Kyuu said to everyone around him.

Everyone nods agreeing with Kyuu's suggestion.

"So who goes with who?" Sonic asks.

In response to Sonic's question, Kanata and Nina go to Kyuu's side while Dark Magician Girl and Kanon gather around Kite leaving Sakura and Noel together.

The two guests ponder which group they should go with until the blue hedgehog reaches his final verdict. He steps into Kyuu's side.

"Oh well," Daffy decides to follow Sonic and follows Kyuu's group.

Before the groups can split up, Sega's video game mascot immediately remembers the reason he's at the brigade's house in the first place. "Guys, here!" Sonic takes off his backpack and opens it. He picks up eight communication devices in a form of earpieces.

"These are for you," Sonic hands each of the brigade the earpieces, "Tails thought all of you need these if you want to communicate with each other."

'R-Really? For us?" Kyuu asks in a frantic tone as he looks closely at the earpiece, noting its unique design and the guild's logo on it. "That's really kind of him," Noel adds as she puts the earpiece on her right ear followed by the rest of the brigade, including the detective fanatic.

"You just press and hold on the earpiece and you should be able to contact with each other," Sonic explains to the brigade while motioning his hand to his ear making it look like he's pressing the earpiece.

"Thanks," Kyuu said to the hedgehog before turning his attention to his friends, "We should thank Tails later once we're done with this job. Don't you guys agree?" The brigade nods, agreeing with the former.

With that settled, the groups go in their separate ways.

-/-

Kyuu's group goes to the Resident District where, as the name said, all the civilians live.

The group starts to talk to several folks about the missing children, mainly the victims. Most of their stories are identical to their client, they're at the Shopping District and get separated.

There are those who have different stories. Some of the victims tell the group that they left their kids at home alone while at work. When they got home, their kids were gone.

Other stories include their kids playing outside the house before their disappearance.

In Kite's group, they go to the Shopping District where their client's son was last seen.

They ask some of the civilians who usually hang out in the district. Unfortunately, none of them seem to have the answers.

The only answer they find it vitally important is the sighting of a suspicious character. The people claims to have seen the said suspect right after their children's disappearance. However, right afterwards, the suspect is no longer in sight.

With that in mind, Kite's group decides to gather more info of this particular stranger.

As for Sakura and Noel, they explore the Center District. Unlike the others, the two girls have a little trouble getting information from the civilians. None of the people at the center seem to know anything about the kidnappings.

Despite that, they continue to search around the district hoping for an answer.

The entire groups search their respective locations for clues. Unfortunately, there are no clues to be found or traces left behind by the culprit...

-/-

After hours of searching, Kyuu's team decides to regroup back at the Center District.

Kanata, Kyuu, Nina, Sonic, and Daffy walk in a horizontal line respectively.

"This is getting us nowhere," Kyuu groans with his head down.

"Well, not really," Nina said to Kyuu as she motions her head forward and look at the detective boy, "At least we know that there's someone kidnapping the kids."

"Oh right, now we're a step closer to the kidnapper," Kanata said with a straight face.

"So now what?" Daffy asks as he moves into the front and turns around facing at the others. The duck continues to walk albeit in backwards. The detective boy raises his head and thinks over the case.

Whoever is kidnapping the children must be a professional, being able to appear and disappear at times without leaving any sort of traces behind. He should also note that the world he's in is not the real world but a whole different world where fictional characters from existing series live.

The kidnapper might be either someone who has super powers allowing him or her to blend in with the surroundings or someone who's merely cunning. What if the kidnapper has accomplices? That might explain the culprit's successes but that would've left some witnesses behind.

Sadly, there are too many possibilities and with the small amount of clues they have, Kyuu can't narrow them down. Unless...

"Huh?" Sonic the Hedgehog turns to his left when he notices something is moving in the shadows at an alley. "What's wrong, Sonic?" Nina asks kindly. "I... Thought I saw something over there," Sonic points at the alley to the left.

"Aha!" Daffy suddenly draws out his bow and his boxing glove arrow, "We have our culprit! CHAARGE!?" the black duck runs hysterically to the alley. "Hey! Daf, wait!" Sonic immediately runs after Daffy, "Come back! You could get us into trouble again!"

"D-Daffy! S-Sonic! Wait!" Nina shouts hoping the two anthropomorphic characters to stop but loses sight of them as they enter deeper into the dark, narrow alley. The little witch looks at Kyuu and Kanata. "Shouldn't we go after them?" she asks. "I wouldn't worry about them," the detective boy said back.

"Let's just wait and see," Kanata said.

Waiting for either of them to return, Kyuu turns his head at Kanata while Nina, who isn't too far from the boys, watches the alley.

The brown-haired boy is one of the fewer characters that he does not recognize from the real world. However, Kanata seems to be a nice person though he can be irritating at times due to his tendency to mock others.

"Hey," Kyuu calls Kanata gaining the latter's attention.  
"Care to tell me about earlier?" Kyuu asks the latter directly.

"Earlier?"  
"With our client. You decided to take just a _little_ cash from her. Care to tell me why?"

Kanata is suddenly silenced by the detective's question.

"Is it because she reminded you of someone?"

The brown-haired boy remains silent.

"Is it because you feel sorry for her?"

"Nope," Kanata finally speaks much to Kyuu's surprise.

"You're not the only one who has a single parent," Kanata suddenly said to him. The detective is a bit surprised to hear it as he begins to think that the boy from a romance-comedy manga is a bit like him.

"So you have a mother too, then," Kyuu said cheerfully.

"Actually..." Kanata then looks at Kyuu, "I don't have a mother, only a father."  
When the latter hears that, he quickly takes back what he had just said about the brown-haired boy being same as he is.

"Oh... Sorry to hear that," the detective boy said apologetically.  
"It's okay, Kyuu. I never knew my mother, but I'd be happy if I had the chance," Kanata said back to him in a surprisingly calm manner.

"It's not too different too, I understand how it feels being raised by a single parent and raised one. I have trouble spending time with my dad since he's always away, but I don't hate him... I know he's just doing what's best for me."

"Yeah, I get it," Kyuu said in a quiet tone as he lowers his head, looking down at the ground, "That Jayden kid... He should be happy that he still has both his parents."

From that moment, Kyuu begins to remember the real world slowly. Now that he remembers it completely, he has thoughts about his mother's current whereabouts. Knowing her, she's the type of woman who worries too much, especially if she found out that her son's not in the real world.

As those thoughts completely shroud his mind, Kyuu suddenly feels a hand pats on his shoulder. He turns and finds that the hand is Kanata's.

"Don't worry, we'll help you find a way back to your 'world,'" Kanata said to the detective boy to comfort it. It actually works as it helps Kyuu to regain his confidence. Even though he hasn't known Kanata very well, he has a feeling that they can get along just fine.

"Say," Kyuu suddenly said as Kanata motions his own hand from the former's shoulder, "You said ' raised one.' What did you mean by that?"

"Raised one?"

Kyuu stares attentively at Kanata with a bright look, hoping for a straight answer.

"Raising you, of course," Kanata said with a straight face.

"Eh? What?"

Before Kyuu can react to Kanata's odd answer, they suddenly hear comical noises. More like cartoonish sound effects ranging from a mallet smashing to a piano smashing. It also attracts Nina's attention.

They look back to the alley as they hear Daffy's voice yelling, "I GOT HIM!"

Daffy Duck emerges from the shadows in the alley dragging along a large bag. "What did I tell ya?" the duck asks as he steps out of the alley followed by Sonic, whose expression remains the same: calm and relaxed.

"What's that?" Nina asks as Daffy tosses the bag to the ground.

"Kiddies, I present you... The culprit!"  
The black duck opens up the bag revealing...

Super Macho Man...  
Completely out cold with a goofy look written on his face...  
In addition, there are stars flying around his head in circle...

"What... In... The..." Kyuu is baffled completely to see the Punch-out character in the alley while Nina stares at the unconscious muscle builder with her eyes dotted. Kanata, on the other hand, isn't bothered at all as if he knows what exactly is going to happen next.

"Huh, so Super Macho Man's our guy. Good job, Daf," Kanata said to the duck mocking the latter.

Daffy sweats rapidly seeing that he has the wrong guy as Sonic appears right next to him and pokes him with the hedgehog's shoulder saying, "Nice goin', Daf."

"W-What's Mr. Macho Guy doing here?" Nina asks as she goes to the boxer's side to see if he's okay. The latter suddenly raises his head surprising the little witch. "Not to worry, little missy! I was just chasing a missing pigeon, that's all," Super Macho Man said dizzily before he raises his index finger, "And that's Mr. Macho MAN!"

The Punch-out character faints again.

"Alright, knock it off..." Kyuu mutters in disappointment. He is about to scold Daffy for his incompetence until something suddenly appears in his head figuratively. An idea, to be exact.

"Everyone," Kyuu said in a louder tone to gain everyone's attention. Except for Super Macho Man, who's still knocked out. "I have a plan. We're going to need everyone's full cooperation.

Kyuu immediately presses his communication earpiece to contact the others.  
"Everyone, get back to headquarters and wait for us. I'll explain everything there," Kyuu said to the other groups via the earpiece.

"_Oh, we have headquarters? Where?_" Sakura's voice asks through the earpiece.  
"_I think he meant our home,_" Noel's voice calls out.

"In any case, just wait there, okay?" Kyuu then let go his finger from the earpiece.

The detective boy then turns his attention to the blue hedgehog. "Sonic, can you go back to the guild and ask Tails for another communicator earpiece, three binoculars, and some tracking devices. Oh, and get one earpiece for you too," the young detective said to the hedgehog. The latter complies without delays as he runs to the direction leading to the guild in lightning speed.

Kyuu then turns his attention to the others.  
"So where's Donald?" the detective asks.

"Donald? Well, he lives just across the street here," Daffy said as he points at the southern direction. "Good, can you ask Donald for his sailor uniform?"

"Wha? What for?" Daffy asks.  
"Please, just do it. I'm sure this plan will work," Kyuu said to the duck.

"Oh, alright..." Daffy immediately runs to Donald's house.

Kyuu then faces at Kanata and Nina.  
"Guys, help me buy a balloon and a lollipop."

"A balloon?"  
"Lollipop?"

* * *

_Later that night..._

At the Shopping District, it has become crowded with civilians. In fact, it is much more crowded than the day but not to the point the people cover the street like in New York.

One of the heroes is among the crowd.

"_Is everyone in position?_" Kyuu's voice asks.

"_We're ready,_" the brigade's respective voices answer back.

"_Good. Remember the plan. Once the culprit takes away our decoy, we'll track them down to his hideout._"

"Yeah, That's a good plan, kid... I have one _little_ question. WHY ME?!"  
It turns out that the certain hero is none other than Daffy Duck, who's wearing Donald Duck's classic sailor uniform while holding a balloon and a large, round-shaped lollipop. Like the Twilight Brigade, Daffy has the same communication earpiece, but in black to camouflage it on the duck's feathers.

"_Ah, c'mon. You're perfect for the job_," Kyuu's voice said optimistically.

While Daffy Duck is on the ground, the rest of the heroes are in the rooftops divided into two groups: Kyuu, Kite, and Dark Magician Girl. Kyuu's group consists of Kanata, Nina, and Sonic. Kite's consists of Kanon and Sakura. Lastly, Dark Magician Girl's group consists only Noel.

"Keep your eyes open, everyone. Our culprit may strike at any time," Kyuu said to his group. The detective boy and his group are at a house's rooftop near Daffy's location, watching their decoy closely.

The others are at different locations. Like Kyuu's group, they're very close to their decoy. Kite's group is in the alley watching the duck from afar while Dark Magician Girl and Noel are among the crowd pretending to be shoppers.

Each group, mainly the leaders, uses a binocular to keep their eyes close on Daffy Duck.

"Heh, this should be interesting," Sonic said watching the street below alongside the rest of Kyuu's group.

The group's leader, Kyuu, watches the street around Daffy to find anyone who looks suspicious while the rest of his group watches the black duck. "Just stay calm, Daf. Just act like a kid who's on his own and we'll do the rest," Kyuu said through the earpiece.

-/-

"Riiight, thanks for the encouragement," Daffy sighs in a disappointed tone.

The duck then widens his pupils to make them look like cute puppy eyes and starts walking across the street back and forth while licking on the lollipop.

Dark Magician Girl and Noel, who are nearby, notice the duck's movement so they follow him unnoticed. To make them look less suspicious, they pretend to talk with each other. At the same time, Kite, using the binoculars, watches the scenery around the duck while Sakura keeps her eyes on the duck. Both characters peep their heads out of the alley's entrance with Kite being below Sakura.

"So far, so good," Sakura whispers cheerfully as she looks down at Kite, "Don'tcha think so, Kite?"  
"I wouldn't think so," Kite said back while watching the people around the street, "Keep your guard up, Sakura, and keep your eyes on Daffy. The kidnapper might show up any moment now."

Sakura gives Kite a thumbs-up.

As soon as Sakura looks back at their duck friend, she spots an ugly man with a long nose riding on his carriage pulled by his black horse. The ugly man holds some lollipops high in the air while exclaiming, "Free candies tonight! We are selling strawberries, chocolates, and ice cream!"

"Huh? A candyman? At this hour? And free candies?" Sakura raises an eyebrow interpreting the 'candyman' as strange.

Suddenly, a group of large, muscle-bound men suddenly pass by and block everyone's view of Daffy Duck much to Kite and Sakura's surprise. The carriage then passes by the group.

Dark Magician Girl and Noel see the crowd completely overwhelm the duck. In response, they try to move in and look for Daffy to make sure he's alright. As soon as they get through the crowd, they find that the duck is no longer there, much to the girls' surprise.

"Oh no! They already got him!" Dark Magician Girl yelps with a shocked look on her face. Noel quickly reacts by contacting the others and tells them that the kidnapper has finally got Daffy.

"_Heellp!_" the brigade suddenly hears Daffy Duck's voice from their communication earpieces.

"D-Daffy, where are you?" Noel asks in a stressed tone.  
"_I-I don't know! It's all dark and bumpy in here! And I'm in a bag!_" Daffy yells back.

"Kanon, the tracer!" Noel contacts Kanon.

The Umineko character, who's with Kite and Sakura in the alley, is holding a particular device that resembles an iPod Nano. Kanon activates the device's GPS system and pinpoints Daffy's location.

Once he finds the duck's location, Kanon quickly presses the earpiece on his right ear and contacts everyone. "Everyone, the kidnapper's heading to the right! He's not too far, we can still track him down!" Kanon said through the earpiece.

"Wait a sec..." Sakura quickly remembers the carriage with the strange, ugly man on it. She begins to suspect the 'candyman' as the kidnapper. The Street Fighter girl immediately contacts Kyuu's group. "Kyuu, can you see that carriage in the right?" she asks.

-/

"The carriage?"

Back at Kyuu's group, the detective boy quickly moves his sight to the right and finds more people, but the thing that gains his attention is the carriage with the ugly, long-nosed man on it. From the looks of the distance, the carriage is already quite far.

The detective boy tells the Street Fighter girl what he sees.

"_That's it, it's the carriage! I think the ugly guy's the kidnapper!_" Sakura's voice shouts through the earpiece.

"Alright, we're on it," Kyuu said as he, Kanata, Nina, and Sonic quickly turn around preparing to move out, "Stay put, Daf. We're coming to save you!"

"_Then hurry up! I'm already feel nauseous!_"

-/-

Sakura is right, Daffy Duck is in the carriage, trapped inside a sack.

The duck can hear the rider laughing maniacally as the latter rides the carriage across the street. Eventually, the carriage reaches the lonely parts of town where there aren't too many guards patrolling around.

Along the bumpy way, Daffy tries to break free from the bag.

Few minutes have passed, the carriage arrives at a large, abandoned house. The ugly man parks the carriage in the house's garage and enters the living room with the sack.

The living room is quite empty unlike most houses. There are no furniture at all, only windows and junks lying around.

"Another child falls under my hands," the large-nosed man puts the sack on the ground, "Now let us see what kind of child we have caught today."

The kidnaper slowly opens the sack. As soon as the sack is wide open, a small dynamite is tossed out from the inside and reaches the man's face. It implodes afterwards, covering the man in black powder.

"A child carrying a dynamite?" the man asks himself with a goofy look on his face, "...Well, that's odd."

Daffy Duck pops his head out of the sack and stares directly at the kidnapper. "Well, that depends what kind of kid you just nabbed," the duck said as he makes the 'eye' on the kidnapper. In a comical moment, Daffy bites the kidnapper's long nose and runs away.

"Ow!" the man yelps.

"Why, you stupid duck!" the kidnapper chases Daffy Duck around the living room.

Their chase resembles a bit of the old Daffy Duck cartoons.

Daffy runs across the stairs and enters a room through an opened door. When the kidnapper is about to enter the room, the Looney Tunes character slams the door shut, smashing it directly on the kidnapper's face. The latter drops backward into the ground. Daffy then exits the room and runs across the dark hallway before the kidnapper regains conscience.

The ugly man runs across the hallway chasing the duck until he stumbles upon a janitor who looks like a duck. "Hey, have you seen a little duckie running around here?" the man asks the janitor. "He went that-a way," the duck speaks in a very heavy tone while pointing at the other direction. The kidnapper follows the pointed direction. As soon as the kidnapper already far away from the janitor, he quickly stops once he realizes that the latter is actually Daffy in disguise.

"Why did I fall for the oldest trick in the book?" the kidnapper slaps his forehead in frustration.

And so, the chase continues.

Our favorite duck hides in another empty room but he finds a large box with the label 'Duck Decoys' on a small table. Daffy smiles devilishly when he sees it.

Eventually, the kidnapper finds the room. When he opens the door, he finds a horde of Daffy Ducks bouncing around while yelling "WOO-HOO!" repeatedly. The ugly man figures out that they're all robot duplicates when he sees the box on the table.

The kidnapper is clearly confused to figure which one of the ducks since they're all identical. There's only one way to clear this situation: shoot them one by one.

The ugly, large-nosed man surprisingly pulls a double-barreled shotgun from his pocket. How the kidnapper is able to contain such a weapon is anybody's guess.

The man fires his shotgun rapidly on all the duplicate ducks one by one. When a bullet pierces through a duplicate, it explodes leaving its metal parts and mechanical gears behind.

After wasting a lot of bullets, the kidnapper has taken out all the ducks. Well, that's the problem, there are no ducks left.

"What the- Where's the real one?" the man thought with a very confused look written on his face. He fails to realize that the real Daffy is standing next to him. Eventually, the man senses the duck's presence. As he turns to the duck, Daffy jumps right at the kidnapper and slaps right on the face. With the kidnapper stunned, the duck quickly turns and exits the room.

Daffy makes his way to another room and locks it just in time as the kidnapper arrives. "Come out!" the man yells in anger as he puts his shotgun on the floor and tries to open the door though with little results. He is unaware that Daffy Duck is right outside as he carefully puts away the shotgun and replaces it with himself.

"Come out, little duck or I'll have to fill you up with holes!" the kidnapper turns and grabs Daffy mistaking him for his shotgun. Holding and aiming the duck like a shotgun, he pulls the trigger as the duck merely yells, "Bang!" repeatedly.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Click! Click!"

"What? Out of bullets already?"

The kidnapper turns the 'shotgun' around and looks into the hole to see if it's really out of bullets. To his chagrin, it's only Daffy Duck as the latter 'kisses' the former in a similar fashion as his old partner and rival, Bugs Bunny.

Daffy yells "Woo-hoo!" hysterically as he runs across the hallway with the kidnapper in pursuit.

Their chase leads back to the living room where Daffy finally decides to fight the kidnapper in a boxing match. The kidnapper complies.

Before the kidnapper throws a punch, the duck suddenly pulls out a gift from out of nowhere. "Hey, why don't we just be friends, ol' pal?" Daffy asks in such an innocent tone. "Oh, for me?" the kidnapper asks in a surprised, yet, touched tone as he takes the gift, "I-I don't know what to say."

The kidnapper unwraps the gift and opens it...  
Only to find a bomb inside...

**#Boom!#**

The kidnapper's face is covered completely in black powder with another goofy look on his face before he drops on the ground fainted.

"Well," Daffy rubs his hands as he walks toward the door, "That takes care our guy. Now to find those little brats."

Upon opening the door, Daffy finds forty large, muscle-bound thugs outside the house. All the thugs grin as they clench their fists.

Figuring out what's going to happen next, Daffy gulps as he begins to sweat rapidly.

"Ummm... Mother?"

-/-

Moments later, Daffy is tied up on a chair being beaten and battered badly.

"Good job, my men," the kidnapper said to the thugs while cleaning up his face with a handkerchief, "But I'm afraid I have to cut your salaries for being late."

"And I should've known that he was a decoy, not a child. That could only mean one thing, my boys," the kidnapper points at the unconscious duck, "He's from one of those guilds."

"You," the large-nosed man suddenly points one of the thugs, "Call Mr. M. We should prepare for our visitors."

"As for our little duckie," the kidnapper turns his attention to the unconscious Daffy, "Who wants our dinner extra crispy?"

"Too late for that now," a voice suddenly calls out as a blue figure moving in lightning speed homes into the pointed thug knocking him out in an instant much to everyone's surprise. The blue figure jumps into the air and homes into three more thugs knocking them out before landing on the ground, distances from the thugs and their boss. The figure is none other than Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Heh, looks like we found our guy," Sonic smirks.

The kidnapper's expression is rather blank even after seeing the blue hedgehog. In a few moments, it finally changes to a sinister smile.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" the kidnapper said in a gleeful tone stepping forward from the thugs, "It appears we have a guest. A guest who's foolish enough to fight all alone."

"You should've come along with allies, hedgehog! You just asked for a quick death! I will have your teeth for a memento and your fur for a coat!" the ugly, large-nosed man threatens the blue hedgehog.

"Yeaaah, that's kinda gross," Sonic said in a disinterested tone and shrugging.

"Look, all I want is my duck-in-distress pal back. Unless you're looking for an embarrassing beatdown, you let him go," the hedgehog said in such confidence while pointing his index finger at the thugs and the kidnapper.

Unfortunately, the hedgehog's answer is quite clear as the thugs and their boss merely stare at him before some of the goons clench their fists. Some of the thugs immediately surround the hedgehog while the rest stays by their boss' side.

Sonic shrugs in a calm manner as if nothing fazes him.

"By the way, who're you?" Sonic suddenly asks.

"Me? My name has feared many children across the world. I am what you may call... The _**Child Catcher**_!"

When the kidnapper reveals his name to the hedgehog, a sudden silence takes over followed by cricket sounds.

"Pfft, really? That's the best name you got?" Sonic chuckles mocking the large-nosed man much to the latter's chagrin.

"You dare to mock me, you little hedgehog! I'll have your tongue for a-" before the Child Catcher can finish his threat, he suddenly smells something gaining his goons' attention.

"What is it, boss?" one of the thugs asks.  
"I smell... Children..." the Child Catcher turns around looking at the empty living room, "There are children nearby... I can smell them..."

All the sudden, the Twilight Brigade breaks in through the door.

"S-Sorry we're late!" Kyuu shouts as he and his friends form a vertical line in position.

"Guys, what took you? I was hoping we could make an awesome entrance to together," Sonic said to the eight teens. "Hey, not all of us can run as fast as you!" Dark Magician Girl yells in frustration.

The Child Catcher and his goons are stunned to see the brigade until they begin to chuckle. "So your allies are actually a bunch of children? Oh, how laughable!" the Child Catcher said in a mocking tone.

"This should be very easy. It's taking down three birds with one stone. We have you for a souvenir," the Child Catcher points at the hedgehog, "And we have dinner," he then points at the duck who's still out cold and tied up on the chair, "But more importantly, we have more children to take!" the kidnapper finally points at the brigade.

Hearing out the ugly man's gloats, the brigade figures that the Child Catcher is their kidnapper much to their confusion. They thought their kidnapper would look more menacing and cunning, but instead it's a creepy guy with a large nose.

"Kyuu, you know this guy?" Kanata whispers at Kyuu.  
"Nope, not all. If you ask me, he looks like a pushover," the latter whispers back.

The thugs, who are already surrounded Sonic, are about to attack the hedgehog until Dark Magician Girl lifts her wand up high shouting "**Thunder**!" to summon multiple lightning bolts from above the ceiling and strike the surrounding thugs. When the thugs are paralyzed, the blue hedgehog spins around them in circle moving in incredible speed, making an hourglass-shaped tornado sending all the thugs into the air. Once airborne, Kanon dashes into the air toward the thugs and execute a vertical kick that is very powerful that it sends all the thugs flying across the room and crashing on the ground.

Now that shocks the Child Catcher and the thugs.  
They're shocked even more when Noel draws out her signature pistols and begin to fire them. The Child Catcher shrieks comically as he quickly runs to the left evading the bullets. It's unfortunate for the thugs as they have no time to react. Thankfully, Noel isn't a devil-may-care gunslinger type of character, she fires the bullets beneath the thugs on purpose to scare them. With them distracted, Sakura charges at them from their right and punches them whole, knocking the enemies out in an instant.

Some of the thugs have guns. They immediately pull out their respective guns and attempt to fire at the brigade. Unfortunately, they're too late when Kite appears right in front of them with his signature blades in hands. The .hack protagonist delivers a vertical swing, but nothing happens. The thugs sigh out of relief thinking that the boy in red is just doing it for show, but they quickly realize that their handguns are cut in half, showing that the boy is incredibly fast that they barely can see him move.

With their guns in pieces, Kite deliver some painful beatings with kicks and punches knocking them down. Unfortunately, three thugs are distances away from the boy in red holding AK-47s. The thugs fire their Aks rapidly at the .hack protagonist. In a nick of time, Nina runs into Kite's side and raises her magic staff, casting a magical barrier to deflect the bullets in time.

"Thanks," Kite said to his witch friend as he throws his blades in a similar fashion as throwing a boomerang. The blades spin extremely fast, which makes them resemble buzzsaws. Curving across the area in opposite directions, the blades pass in front of the thugs. The said thugs are rather confused to see that, but they quickly realize that the spinning blades have cut their assault rifles' barrels. To their dismay, they find that Kite is already in front of them with his blades returned in his hands. The boy in red delivers ferocious kicks that instantly knock them out.

While Kite knocks the three thugs out, Nina tries to get to the former's side but four thugs close onto her. Fortunately, she has one spell in mind to take care of the enemies. She raises her magic staff and shouts, "**Ap Do**!" Green lights engulf each thug and suddenly moves very slow. The thugs are clearly surprised to see that they're moving slow as a turtle as Nina passes by them with no trouble. Once the witch girl reaches Kite, Kanon suddenly moves into the slow-moving thugs and brutally beats them with his fists.

At the same time, Kyuu and Kanata stand back-to-back facing the other thugs. "Remember our training, Kyuu," Kanata said with a grin. "Of course," Kyuu answers quickly as he summons his crimson gauntlets. The thugs move in to attack. Kanata fights with his fists since he doesn't want to kill a human being with his blade. Both uses Aikido style as they grapple their opponents' joints in such a way that the joints reach their maximal degree of motion and ending it with either throwing them to the ground or delivering painful blows.

Thanks to their week of training, Kyuu is able to defend himself with his gauntlets though he's not yet ready for a frontal assault. A direct attack should be left to Kanata.

Two remaining thugs suddenly draw out sharp knives from their pockets. Kyuu jumps a bit to see the knives, but quickly regains his confidence when Kanata pats him by his shoulder to calm him down. One of the thugs move in attempting to stab the detective boy with the knife. Surprisingly, Kyuu times his movement carefully and grapples the thug by his arm. Once the detective boy disarms the knife, he twists the thug's arm and throws him directly on the ground.

"Good!" Kanata shouts as he grabs the other thug by the arm and punches the latter's face knocking him out in an instant.

The heroes have the upper hand as the thugs are slowly beaten alive.

During the skirmish, Sonic makes his way through the large, empty room and reaches Daffy who slowly wakes up.

"Hey Daf, you okay?" Sonic asks the duck. "Okay? I'm okay?! Whaddya think?!" Daffy yells angrily as the duck struggles to break free from his bonds. "Man, you're the grumpiest damsel-in-distress... And the ugliest," Sonic said with a straight face as he unties the ropes, freeing Daffy.

Hiding behind another chair, the Child Catcher watches the fight in disbelief to see the eight teens beating up his goons slowly. "T-This can't be right! Children, or teenagers, are supposed to be defenseless, naïve, grouchy, overly emotional, and melodramatic! Not street fighters!" the Child Catcher complains.

With only a few thugs remain, the brigade, Sonic, and Daffy see the Child Catcher hiding behind his chair before they take out the last of them.

"Uh-oh!" the kidnapper realizes he's in big trouble, so he immediately runs for the exit.

"NO, YOU DON'T, CREEPO!" Sonic quickly runs toward the Child Catcher. When Sonic jumps into the air intending to him into the kidnapper to knock him out, a pair of concentrated blasts of compressed air home into the blue hedgehog. The hedgehog yells in pain as the blasts send him crashing to the wall and dropping down to the floor.

"W-What?" everyone utters in a surprised tone.

As soon as Sonic stands up, the Twilight Brigade quickly regroups and turn their eyes to the direction of the blast, leading to the door where they came in. There, they find in a red protective costume consisting of yellow quilt patches on the top and a visor. He also uses a pair of mechanical gauntlets.

Kyuu is shocked to see their assailant because the former actually recognizes the latter.

"I reckon that came a bit of a shocker. Eh, boys and girls?" the man speaks in deep southern accent. "Well, good," the man aims his right gauntlet at the brigade as it begins to emit a vibrating energy, "So will this."

Their assailant immediately fires a single blast from his gauntlet at the Twilight Brigade. "Look out!" everyone quickly moves away evading the blast, but its compressed air is actually vibrating at an intense frequency that they can still feel the blast.

Once they evade, they're separated into groups: Kyuu, Kanata, Nina, and Noel are in the left while Kite, Kanon, Dark Magician Girl, and Sakura are on the right.

Kite's group quickly moves away as the assailant moves his right gauntlet, which is still firing the concentrated blast, in an attempt to hit them with it.

"Ugh, not over yet!" Sonic, ignoring the pain in his body, quickly runs toward the assailant in great speed. The assailant uses his other gauntlet to fire the vibrating blast at the hedgehog while his other gauntlet's concentrated blast pursues Kite's group. Even though the fast-moving hedgehog is able to evade the blast, he moves a bit slow due to the pain he's just sustained.

"Haha, hold still, hedgehog, so I can put you out of yer misery!" the mysterious assailant taunts the hedgehog.

"Yeah, good luck with that," Sonic taunts back retaining his usual calm self.

As soon as Sonic gets close to him, the assailant suddenly halts his right gauntlet and quickly directs it at the hedgehog. Sonic quickly stops and moves away from an incoming blast, but unfortunately, the other blast hits him. The concentrated blast sends the hedgehog hurling across the area and drops on the ground.

The Child Catcher smiles seeing his 'friend' arrive just in time, so he continues to run for the exit.

Kite notices the kidnapper is escaping. The boy in red immediately separates from his group and runs after the Child Catcher. When he gets close, Kite quickly throws something onto the kidnapper before the former gets hit by the assailant's compressed-air blasts sending the .hack character flying across the area and crashing into the ground. The Child Catcher then escapes.

When he tries to get up, Kite suddenly yells in pain as he quickly holds his right rib and his right ear. Because the blasts' compressed air that vibrates at an insane frequency, the damage on the boy is fatal.

Dark Magician Girl, Sakura, and Kanon quickly run to Kite and tends the latter.

Seeing her friend is gravely injured, Noel turns her attention to the assailant and runs after him. She fires her guns rapidly at the mysterious man, but to her surprise, the bullets are deflected from him.

"Nice try, darlin', but bullets ain't gonna cut it," the man said to the blonde-haired girl as he aims his gauntlets at her and fire both its vibrating blasts. Thankfully, Noel evades in time as she quickly returns to Kyuu's side alongside Kanata and Nina.

Kyuu is clearly surprised to see that until he notices that the assailant's suit, or armor if you may call it, is generating some sort of a sound barrier that can deflect anything. Not only that, the suit also appears to protecting its user from its own power.

Daffy Duck, the only one who's not fighting, is clearly in shocked to see the assailant's incredible power as he moves slowly to the right. "G-Good luck, guys. I'll be cheering for you here," the black duck quickly hides inside a random box that's on the floor nearby.

"You..." Kyuu begins to speak toward the man in the red protective costume, "Y-You're _**Shocker**_, aren't you?"

"Huh?" the assailant, Shocker, turns his attention to Kyuu, "Did ya just call my name?"

Shocker stares at the detective boy attentively. A short moment of silence takes over until the mysterious assailant speaks again. "Well, I don't think we've met, boy."

"I knew some guilds might show up with our business in the future, but I didn't expect I'd be fighting a bunch of kids. People these days," Shocker raises both shoulders in disdain, "They send in rookies and kids like they're already professionals before they realize they're dead."

"One question, why are you doing this? Why are you helping out that man kidnapping children?" Kyuu quickly asks.

"Me? It's just some business, nothing too personal, that's all. Sorry to disappoint ya, but if ya'll mess up with my business, I'll have to put you all out of yer miseries."

Shocker aims his gauntlets at Kyuu.

"Kyuu! MOVE!" Kanata quickly grabs Kyuu and they both run to the right while Noel grabs Nina and run to the left just in time before Shocker unleashes his dangerous blasts.

Once they're out of range, Kanata puts Kyuu down as the former quickly moves in. The brown-haired boy unsheathes his katana and attempts to thrust through the Marvel villain. Unfortunately, Shocker redirects his gauntlets at Kanata and unleashes the blasts directly at the latter's chest, sending the brown-haired boy flying away and crashing to the ground.

Like Kite, Kanata groans in pain as he holds his chest.

Kanon suddenly runs toward Shocker in incredible speed with an angry look on his face.

"KANON, NO!" Kyuu shouts.

Unfortunately, Kanon ignores Kyuu's warning as he continues to run toward Shocker. The enemy fires his concentrated blasts though the former manages to evade them. Kanon eventually gets in close with Shocker. The Umineko character unsheathes his large sword, the Zweihänder, and swings it. Unfortunately, the result remains the same as Noel's bullets as Shocker's suit emits a slight shock wave that sends Kanon away. The boy crashes to the ground.

"Boy, what were you thinking?" Shocker walks slowly toward the pinned Kanon as the former picks the boy up. "You're just asking yerself for more pain," Shocker executes an uppercut punch sending Kanon to the air above. The enemy then fires his concentrated blasts at Kanon sending him crashing to the ceiling. In the process, Kanon drops his sword and it lands near Kyuu. The Bishōnen character soon descends from the ceiling as Shocker calmly moves backward. Once the former nearly lands on the ground in front of the latter, Shocker blasts Kanon again with his gauntlets' blasts sending him crashing through a wall of the house.

"K-Kanon!" Noel yells out the boy's name in shock. She moves into the large hole to find her friend, but as a result, she doesn't pay much attention to the enemy as Shocker knocks her out with his gauntlets' concentrated vibrational air blast.

With most of the brigade members down, Kyuu finds himself in trouble as Shocker comes close to the former.

Frozen in fear, Kyuu stares at the Marvel villain with a fearful expression. He tries to run, but fear has the best of him preventing him from running. "Scared, are ya?" Shocker kicks Kyuu forcing him to kneel.

"Well now," Shocker points his right gauntlet at Kyuu's face, "Lights out, boy."

_**To be continued...**_

**-XX-**

**A/N:  
**This chapter will be divided into two parts.

Now the Twilight Brigade has finally faced their first worthy adversary and he's not a pushover.

How are they going to defeat Shocker if they can't face him head-on without his suit blasting them away? Or even worse, his gauntlets' blasts that can fatally damage them?

With most of the brigade members severely injured, how is Kyuu going to get out this situation or will he get himself blasted by Shocker?

Wait for the next part and see the conclusion of this chapter.

As for the characters that appear in this chapter:  
- _**Child Catcher**_, a major villain from the 1968 musical film based on Ian Fleming's novel, **Chitty Chitty Bang Bang**.  
- _**Shocker**_, a supervillain from the **Marvel comics** and one of **Spiderman**'s foes. His appearance, personality, and identity is based on the 2008 TV series, **The Spectacular Spider-Man**.

As for the spells that Nina used on this chapter:  
- **Ap Do**: decreases speed. The spell's name comes from the **.hack **games  
- **Oblique**: curved any projectile attacks


	7. Chapter 4: Child Nap part 2

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own some of the characters in the story. The characters that will appear in this fic are owned by their respective owners. There will also be OCs that are owned by their respective authors.

-/-

_Three letters back..._

_Clues of the identity..._

**Rakenzarn Tales**

**-/-**

**-Cyril Region-  
Densel Town**

"Boy, what were you thinking?" the assailant walks slowly toward the pinned Kanon as the former picks the boy up.

Kyuu stands there in the living room staring at his friend in terrible trouble with Shocker. His other friends, Kite and Kanata, are horribly injured by the super_v_illain's shock blast as they'_r_e both lying on the floor. Dark Magician Girl are attending Kite's injuries while Noel and Nina are scattered across the room.

Sonic is also injured as he's lying on the floor while Daffy Duck hides inside a cardboard box.

"You're just asking yerself for more _p_ain."  
S_h_ocker executes an uppe_r_cut punch sending Kanon to the air above. The enemy then fires his concentrated blasts at Kanon sending him crashing to the ceiling. In the process, Kanon drops his sword and it lands near Kyuu. The Bishōnen character soon descends from the ceiling as Shocker calmly moves backward. Once the former nearly lands on the ground in front of the latter, Shocker blasts Kanon again with his gauntlets' blasts sending him crashing through a wall of the house.

"K-Kanon!" Noel yells out the boy's name in shock. She moves into the large hole to find her friend, but as a result, she doesn't pay much attention to the enemy as Shocker knocks her out with his gauntlets' concentrated vibrational air blast.

With most of the brigade members down, Kyuu finds himself in trouble as Shocker comes close to the former.

Frozen in fear, Kyuu stares at the Marvel villain with a fearful expression. He tries to run, but fear has the best of him preventing him from running. "Scared, are ya?" Shocker kicks Kyuu forcing him to kneel.

"Well now," Shocker points his right gauntlet at Kyuu's face, "Lights out, boy."

-Chapter 4 part 2-  
-Child Nap-

Kyuu shuts his eyes preparing for the upcoming pain.

By the time the villain's right gauntlet emits the powerful blast, Sonic immediately gets up and runs toward Kyuu. Sega's video game mascot manages to get to Kyuu and pulls him away from Shocker. As a result, the villain misses his shot.

"Damn!" Shocker turns to the direction the hedgehog goes.

"You okay?" Sonic asks as soon as he puts the DDS boy down.  
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," Kyuu said back with a sigh of relief.

"Still standing, hedgehog?" Shocker turns his attention to both Kyuu and Sonic directing his right gauntlet at them, "Then this next shot will make sure you don't move at all."

Before the villain can unleash his gauntlet's blast, a strong force suddenly hits him from the back. In fact, the force is strong enough to withstand the suit's barrier though Shocker manages to withstand the force.

Kyuu and the hedgehog find that it's actually a surging energy wave hitting Shocker's back. Unfortunately, the suit's sound barrier eventually deflects the energy away.

Shocker then turns to the one who fired the energy. He finds that it's Sakura.

Sakura focuses her ki into flowing through her palms as she motions her hands forward. As her palms thrust outward at Shocker, she yells, "**Hadoken**!"as a surging energy is unleashed from her palms as it homes into her target.

"Whoa!" Shocker _q_uickly fires _h_is compressed blast at the surging energy forcing it back to its user. Fortunately, Sakura evades her own energy attack by rolling to the left.

"What's the matter? Too scared to fight with your own hands?" Sakura begins to talk to the villain in a more serious tone, much different she usually does. She quickly gets up and poses her offensive stance. "If you're not scared, why don't you take those off and fight me?"

Unfortunately, her taunt doesn't prompt Shocker into taking off his gauntlets as the villain said, "Sorry, little missy, but it ain't my style."

Shocker is about to fire his blasts again on Sakura. Fortunately, because he is distracted by the Street Fighter character as a large debris hurls toward the said villain. Although, his suit's protective barrier is still a problem as it breaks the debris into pieces.

"What in blue blazes?!" Shocker turns around only to see Kanon emerging from the hole in the wall with two large, yet smaller debris in hands. The former is quite surprised to see the latter still up on his feet.

Sakura immediately throws another Hadoken at Shocker. Unfortunately, the latter notices the surging energy prompting him to evade it. When he does so, Kanon moves in and smashes him with the debris. However, the suit still manages to break them apart as Shocker directs his gauntlets at him, only this time, Kanon evades the blasts in time performing a back flip and landing next to Kyuu and Sonic.

As a follow-up of their attack, Dark Magician Girl steps in and points her wand at Shocker. The wand unleashes a large chunk of ice at the latter. However, the concentrated barrier emitting from the suit shred the ice into pieces.

Shocker turns his attention to the Duel Monster Spirit and unleashes his concentrated, compressed blasts at her, but thankfully, she evades it.

"_This isn't good,"_ Kyuu grits his teeth, _"We can't beat that guy like this!"_

The detective boy motions his hand quickly into pressing his communication earpiece.

"_Everyone, listen up! We have to retreat!_"

Kyuu manages to gain everyone's attention.  
Kanon doesn't seem to agree with Kyuu as he turns his attention to Shocker intending to fight again. His intention is cut short when Kyuu calls out his name from the earpiece. He finds a very serious face written all over the detective boy, a 'no' won't be taken for him.

"_We need to distract him!_"

Kyuu turns his attention to Sonic, which the blue hedgehog quickly realizes that he's needed to distract Shocker. The hedgehog gives the detective boy a thumbs-up as he already has a plan in mind.

Sonic quickly runs toward Shocker who releases his gauntlets' blasts in retaliation. This time, Sonic is more careful to evade his opponent's attack. The former circles around Shocker in high speed, creating a small, blue-colored tornado though it doesn't send the latter into the air.

Shocker fires his concentrated blasts to blow the blue tornado away. Once it clears up, he finds that the entire brigade, including the random box, is gone. The villain isn't concerned at all as he lowers his gauntlets.

"Next time, then," he said calmly.

All the sudden, Shocker receives a call from one of his goons.

"What is it, son?" Shocker picks up the call from the communicator in his earpiece.

"_Good news, boss. We got the 'special' delivery here._"

"About time, son. Put it at the rendezvous point and I'll pick it up. Oh, and keep your eyes on eight li'l brats, a blue hedgehog, and a black duck... They're trouble."

-/-

The brigade, Sonic, and Daffy manage to retreat to a nearby alley without Shocker on their trail.

It is still nighttime. The sky is nothing more but a cloudless ocean of blackness accompanied by stars sparkling through the night. There's also the crescent moon.

E_v_en though half of the brigade is seriously injured, Nina manages to heal them using he_r_ magic without any problem.

"Is everyone okay?" Kyuu asks as the brigade nods in response.

"To think our enemy is actually that tough," Dark Magician Girl sighs in relief. She leans her back against the wall and sits down on the ground. Noel and Nina do the same.

"Yeah... That was scary," Nina said too.

Kite nods as he holds his ribs.

"So that man's name is Shocker?" Kanata asks Kyuu.  
"Yeah, he's a comic book supervillain in my world," the latter e_x_plain to the former, "I don't know much about him, but from what I've seen just now, that's really him."

"Bet you don't know about that long-nosed guy," Sonic said to Kyuu. The latter looks at the former with a blank look, showing that he has no idea about the kidnapper. "Well, I managed to find out his name. His name is the Child Catcher," the hedgehog said.

"Child... Catcher?" Kyuu raises his right eyebrow.  
"Really? That's his name?" Kanata also raises his eyebrow, speaking in a manner that mocks the kidnapper's name.

"Did you say... Child Catcher?" Noel suddenly asks. Sonic responds with a nod.

"I think I've heard of that name from one of the guilds' criminal portfolios. The Child Catcher is a kidnapper. No one knows his real identity, all they know is that he's once an employee of Baron and Baroness Bomburst."

"Who're they?" Kyuu asks.  
"They were the rulers of an independent town called Vulran in the Veryl Region. I've heard that they were so selfish and cruel that they didn't even care for their people, only for themselves. I should also mention that the baroness hated children, so she hired the Child Catcher and threw them into her castle's dungeon," Noel explains to Kyuu.

The detective boy feels rather confused hearing such nonsensical story of the Bomburst couple if they're that cruel. "So what happened to them?" he asks.

"Well, I really don't know much of the full story, but they did something stupid that squandered their wealth and they were taken in by the Knights," Noel explains again to the detective boy, "But as for the Child Catcher, he managed to evade capture. From what I've heard, he's not that smart but he's very good in terms of kidnapping."

"Huh, so that's his story," Sonic said, "Pretty lame, if you ask me."

"But now we know our enemies, the Child Catcher and Shocker," Kyuu adds with a satisfied smile.

"Oh, that's great, but we lost the Child Catcher after all my hard work! How are we supposed to track him down?!" Daffy complains.

"Your hard work?" Sonic smirks as he pokes the duck's arm with his elbow, "Like hiding inside a box?"

"Hey!? The guy chased me and his boys beaten me to death!? How's that for a hard work?!" Daffy angrily yells.

"No need to worry about that," Kite said as he raises his index finger, "I've managed to place the tracer on him before he got away."

"Then that leaves..." Kite turns to his friend, Kanon who has the iPod Nano that's actually a tracking device. The latter quickly pulls out the device from his pocket. It's a bit battered due to their fight with Shocker but it still works.

The device shows a digital map with a red dot flashes repeatedly at the east.

"Found him," Kanon immediately said. Everyone soon gathers around the sullen boy and look at the tracker.

While everyone is doing so, Kyuu is lost in thoughts. He figures that if they go after the kidnapper, they may run into Shocker again. Recalling their brief fight with the said villain, it's not going to end well if they go on ahead without a plan. He tries to figure out a good plan to fight Shocker.

Kanata soon notices the detective boy's blank face looking down on the ground. "Kyuu?" the former approaches the latter. As soon as the brown-haired boy is about to snap the young detective back to reality, Kyuu widens his eyes as he notices something important when he remembers one certain thing from their fight.

It is something that Kyuu needs to know about Shocker.

Eventually, Kanata pats Kyuu's head to snap him back to reality.

"Y-Yes?"  
"Don't space out like that, Kyuu. We gotta go now."

Kanata turns around as the rest prepares to move out.

-/-

At the same time, the kidnap_p_er, Child Catcher, rides on _h_is black carriage _w_hipping his horse across the street.

The carriage eventually stops at a certain point where it's actually a rendezvous point for his friend, Shocker.

After waiting for ten-to-twenty minutes, Shocker finally arrives. He manages to get to the rendezvous point though a bit late as he has to take his 'special delivery' at another location along the way and taking a shortcut to reach the carriage. The delivery is actually a large suitcase.

With the said villain in the carriage and putting the suitcase behind it, the Child Catcher whips his black horse as they ride into the deeper parts of town.

"Hmph, I don't understand why the boss hired some amateur kidnapper like you," Shocker mutters sitting next to the Child Catcher.

"I find that very offensive, young man! You watch your tongue!" the Child Catcher retorts, "Need I remind you that I have kidnapped 25 children without any problems, Mr. M. Kidnapping kiddie-winkies is my specialty, after all."

"Yeah, and if it wasn't for me, you'd be behind bars right 'bout now," Shocker said back much to the kidnapper's chagrin.

"Just remember what we're going through, ol' timer. You just do what you're best and keep getting them kids 'til our boss thinks it's enough, as long as we keep getting them Knights' attention away from 'them.' Ya hear?"

"Well, of course," the Child Catcher said back while continues to whip on his horse, "I can smell them out and take them away like a true predator."

"With what? Your nose?"  
"Are you mocking me again, young man?!" the Child Catcher retorts in a louder voice while pointing at his own nose, "This nose of mine has never failed me! Whenever I smell children, I find them and I capture them! It is simple!"

"So your point is... You can only smell children?" Shocker then notices something attached on the kidnapper's clothes, mainly to the lower right. He immediately realizes what it is once he has a clear look on it. "Well then," the villain then picks up the thing attached on the Child Catcher's clothes, "I reckon you can't smell this one."

Seeing the small machine in Shocker's hand, the Child Catcher stops the carriage.

From where they are, they're getting closer to their hideout.

"What is that?" the Child Catcher asks.  
"Ol' timer, you really are dumb as you look," Shocker said in disdain.

"This little thing," Shocker holds it closer to the Child Catcher, "Is what you called a tracer. Them kids from the guild can track us down with this!"

The Child Catcher is clearly surprised upon hearing what the tracer can do.

Shocker, on the contrary, remains calm as he looks around his surrounding. He then sets his eyes on the Child Catcher's horse. "Is that horse of yours well trained?"

"Trained? He's more than that, the good boy's smart," the Child Catcher answers in a gleeful tone, "He follows everything I say to him like a dog."

Shocker raises an eyebrow after hearing it.

"Then... You don't mind if you lose him?"  
"Why, of course not. He's just an animal, I can always find and train a new one. Why do you ask that?"

The villain slowly hatches a solution for their problem.

"Then you don't need to worry about them kids, ol' timer," Shocker holds the tracer back as he looks closely at the device. He also reaches his right other hand to grab the large suitcase behind.

"I have a good idea to take care of them brats."

The Child Catcher may not see it, but underneath Shocker's mask, the comic book villain smiles sinisterly.

-/-

The Brigade, Sonic, and Daffy Duck are pursuing the villains' trail to the east, pass through the Resident District.

The town seems much bigger than it actually looks.

Running across the familiar parts of town, they're now at the deeper of the district where not many people usually hangout. Despite that, there are a few people walking around this particular street.

"Hey, I know this street," Kanata, who's running next to Kyuu, suddenly said looking around the lone street, "This was another Shopping District."

"Say what?" Kyuu widens his eyes out of surprise.

"Well, we had two of 'em a year ago. This was supposedly the only place to shop for things before the stores at the other street opened. The shops here were outdated and incomplete while the ones at the street are the other way around, so customers had stopped to shop here and moved there. Now look," Kanata prompts Kyuu to look around the old buildings while they all run across the street.

The detective boy can clearly see that the old stops went out of business with no customers around to buy their goods. Now it's nothing more but a part of the town's history.

"Are we there yet?" Kyuu then asks Kanon who's holding the tracking device.

Kanon suddenly stops in his track when he notices something on the radar prompting the others to stop as well. The former pays close attention to the digital map noting the signal halts at a certain point. It stays there for about a minute until it starts to move again.

"Almost... This way," Kanon turns to the eastern direction. They continue their way to the target moving from one part of the street to another. Al_l_ the sudden, the signal turns to the west and starts moving again.

The brigade _q_uickly pursues the red signal across the street.

They have been chasing the target for a fe_w_ minutes until they eventually get closer to the red signal as they reach at a certain point.

From that moment, Kyuu notices something odd about the signal, especially they've been chasing the signal for quite a while and, yet, the _k_idnapper still _h_asn't reached his hideout, which he should've reached it by now.

After giving some thoughts and looking at the target's directions in the digital map, the detective boy realizes something important about the target.

"Alright, guys. My turn," Sonic said with a grin, "I'll catch up with our guy in no time."

"Sonic, no!" Kyuu yells trying to prevent Sonic from going after the carriage, but the latter runs off to the signal's moving location. The former immediately stops in his track prompting the others to stop as well. Pressing the communicator on his ear, Kyuu tries to contact Sonic.

Unfortunately, Sonic has already closed in with the carriage, directly in front of the hedgehog.

"I got him!" Sonic smirks as he jumps high into the air. Once he homes into the carriage, he suddenly hears a ticking sound before he lands on top of the wagon.

"_Sonic, I said no! Get out of there now!_"

The blue hedgehog is befuddled when he hears that from Kyuu, but once he peeks inside the carriage, he finds his answer. Inside the carriage is a bunch of boxes and there is something attached to each of them. They're something made up of explosives, plastic binder, oval shaped, off-white solid, and a mechanical device attached on the center of it.

Sonic immediately recognizes the devices as plastic explosives much to his surprise. To make matters worse, they're ready to implode in a few seconds.

Quick to react, the blue hedgehog turns away from the carriage and about to jump away. Before he can do so, he remembers the black horse pulling the carriage. Seeing the amount of explosives inside the carriage, it will take the horse down as well. Sonic immediately executes his signature homing attack to free the horse and then he dashes through the air moving away from the carriage. Once both the hedgehog and the black horse are far from the carriage in different paths, the explosives are set off blowing the entire carriage into pieces.

Sonic lands on the ground safely.

Staring at the burning carriage with a surprised look, Sonic has no idea that it is truly a trap.

The rest of the brigade and Daffy soon arrive at the scene.

Kyuu and Nina approach Sonic. They quickly check on him and see whether he's injured or not. Thankfully, there's no harm done on the hedgehog.

When the hedgehog has a clear glance at the detective boy, he notices that Kyuu isn't really happy with the former's recklessness. "Hehe, sorry about it," Sonic apologizes to Kyuu in a relaxed tone, retaining his sense of carefree manner. "Please don't let this happen again..." Kyuu sighs as his expression changes to a more positive look, "But at least you're okay."

"Oooh boy..." Daffy utters in a shocked tone, "So that was... A trap?"  
The duck turns his attention to Kyuu.

"You should've known it was a trap by looking at the tracker," Kyuu points at the device in Kanon's hand, "Especially the movement."

"Say wha?"  
"We've been chasing around the signal for quite a while and he still hasn't reached his hideout. In fact, we've been running in circles."

Now that Kyuu has mentioned, most of the brigade realizes what the detective boy meant. They've focused too much on tracking down the target that they didn't notice the directions they've been taking. They're indeed going around in circles.

"It appears our adversaries are more cunning than they looked," Kanon said.

"Yeah, we can clearly see that, Sherlock," Kanata adds. Though his voice's tone is normal, he's actually mocking Kanon for stating the obvious.

Kyuu turns his attention to Sonic. The former tilts his head sideways directing at burning carriage prompting the latter to put out the fire. The hedgehog gives the boy a thumbs-up as he runs toward the said carriage.

Sonic circles around the burning carriage in a much slower speed, creating another small, blue-colored tornado. He makes sure that his speed isn't too fast or else he'll send the carriage flying. The blue tornado is enough to give out a strong wind to extinguish the flames. Once the fire is gone, Sonic stops in his track standing in front of the brigade and the Looney Tunes' famous duck.

"Good job," Kyuu and Kanata quickly approach the ruined carriage.

They immediately start to search the remains of the carriage hoping to find any clues to their enemy's hideout, where the missing children may be kept. Much to their dismay, they can't find anything. There's nothing in the carriage but broken crates.

Fortunately, there's something that catches their attention: the plastic explosives.

Now that Kyuu and Kanata have a good look at the explosives since Sonic only has a brief look on them, the detective boy recognizes them as C4 explosives. The reason he can tell the different type of explosives is due to his experience with one of the cases few months ago in the real world. There was one case where Kyuu had to find a bomb set by a madman. Thanks to that experience, he knows a bit about explosives.

However, there's something that catches his attention even more... It is the mechanical device attached to each of the C4-like explosives. It may look like one of those timers whenever a bomb sets up, but this one's different if you inspect it even further.

Kanata checks inside the device by opening the back of it. He notes the advanced design and its function. It can detect life forms by their heart beats but someone has programmed it to make the black horse as an exception. Kyuu and Kanata realize that when Sonic gets close to the carriage, it triggers the devices and activates the explosives.

Kanata also notices that only two companies are capable of producing the particular explosive.

There's something else that bothers Kyuu. How did Shocker and the Child Catcher able to possess a very advanced technology? Neither of them seem to be a type of person who'd bought something like this. There are two logical answers: the villain might stole or someone has supplied them with the plastic explosives.

Kyuu continues to think over for answers while Kanata checks the crisped carriage. Kite and Dark Magician Girl soon decide to approach the two to see if they dig anything.

As soon as the .hack and the Yu-Gi-Oh! characters enter the remains of the carriage, Kyuu decides to postpone his assumption until he confronts both the villain for answers. Right now, they still need to find the villains. They're probably already at the hideout about right now.

"So you found anything, boys?" Dark Magician Girl asks.

In response, Kanata holds out the metallic device closer so the blonde-haired magician can have a closer view of it.

"What's... That?" she asks again.

Before Kanata can explain to the young magician, the young detective suddenly gains an idea.

Kyuu immediately bursts out of the destroyed carriage leaving his friends behind. Knowing the former so far, the trio figures that their friend has an idea for their problem. They decide to follow him outside as well.

The DDS boy runs toward Sonic who's talking with Daffy and Sakura while the rest of the Twilight Brigade is investigating the area.

"Sonic! Where's the horse?" Kyuu quickly asks the blue hedgehog.

"Huh? Why's that?" Sonic questions the young detective.

"Trust me on this one. Where did the horse go?" Kyuu reassures the hedgehog.

Although reluctant, Sonic decides to trust the boy from the real world. He points to the direction of the black horse. Kyuu suddenly turns his attention to Kite and asks the latter to give the blue hedgehog a tracer. Knowing Kyuu so far, Kite deeply trusts the young detective as he hands the tracer over to Sonic.

"Can you track it down?" Kyuu suddenly asks. The hedgehog wastes no time questioning the boy as he immediately rushes off to the black horse's direction.

"Okay," Kyuu then contacts Sonic via the communicator earpiece, "You found it?"

"_Yup, found it right across the street._"

Kanon quickly activates the tracking device and its digital map shows Sonic's location.

"Alright, guys," Kyuu turns his attention to the rest of his friends, "Follow him!"

* * *

_Few minutes later..._

Shock_e_r and the C_h_ild Catcher are now at their hideout located somewhere in the old street, disguised as a normal house. It's not too big but it's not small either, you could say it is neutral. The house has two floors and a basement.

Shocker actually owns the particular house under a false identity known as John Ditko. Since the house is in the old streets where not many people usually hang out, it's a perfect place to keep the kidnapped children imprisoned and hide from the Knights.

In the living room, Shocker is having a meeting with the Child Catcher and the forty thugs, who have _j_ust recovered from their earlier fight with the Twilight Brigade. A_l_l the curtains are closed and the doors are locked, just to be safe from any strangers. Some of the thugs are guarding the doors leading outside making sure that no one eavesdrop the meeting.

"So they take the bait?" the Child Catcher asks in an excited manner.  
"Well, they're rookies so they probably take the bait," Shocker said in a confident tone, "But as long as they're off from our tail, they're none of our concern."

"But listen up here, boys. We're not safe here anymore," Shocker suddenly said, "We've already enough brats in our custody and them Knights are now aware of it. Of course, it's exactly what the boss wants it, to distract them."

"I agree, my good friend. We must make haste and retreat to another and safer location," Child Catcher adds.

"According to my intellects, them Knights from other towns and patrols are on their way to town. We best prepare to disguise our carriages and leave town," Shocker said to his allies.

Just before Shocker can give orders to the goons to execute the plan, they suddenly hear a horse neighing loudly just outside the house.

"What in blue blazes?" Shocker peeks outside the window by pulling the curtain a little bit. To his surprise, he finds the Child Catcher's horse just outside the front door.

"Ol' timer..." The Marvel Comics' villain turns his attention to the Child Catcher, "Is that... Yer horse out there?"

The Child Catcher immediately approaches the other window next to Shocker's and looks outside the same way as the latter does. He is clearly shocked to see his horse alive and well, especially the absence of the carriage.

"That's him..." the Child Catcher utters in a shocked tone. Both Shocker and the kidnapper begin to have the same thought that if the horse is here...

The Child Catcher begins to sniff around the atmosphere to confirm his suspicions. He literally smells the presence of some teenagers not too far.

Everyone in the living room becomes silence once the Child Catcher tells them of the presence...

"Settle up then, boys," Shocker suddenly said as he clenches both his fists, "I reckon our unwanted guests are going to crash in soon."

-/-

Atop of a rooftop, Kyuu, the Twilight Brigade, Sonic, and Daffy watch the house where they can see the black horse.

"And now we find our guy's hideout," Kyuu said to his friends optimistically.

"Wow... How did you come up with this kind of plan? In fact, how did you know the horsie's gonna come back here?" Daffy asks two _q_uestions at once.

"Well... You could say it's my detective instinct," Kyuu said optimistically with a big smile. The brigade and the hedgehog stare at the former feeling awkward with his reaction.

They _q_uick_l_y shrug it off as they look back at the house. Seeing the lights are lit in the house, they can tell that someone is the house. If Kyuu's instincts aren't wrong, the Child Catcher has to be inside along with the missing children.

Before they can do anything to get into the house, Kyuu calls them to get their attention.

"Everyone, we shouldn't go in just yet," Kyuu said to them, "If our man is right here, there's no doubt that Shocker will be inside as well. We need a plan first."

"I agree," Kanata suddenly said with a nod, "Unless you wanna get yourself killed, be my guest."

"Our problem is that man, Shocker," Kanon points it out, "None of our attacks seem to hurt him. His suit seems to absorb our attacks and deflects right back at us."

Well, that is their problem. If they can't hurt Shocker head-on, how are they going to hurt him at all? To top it off, the said villain's gauntlets unleash powerful concentrated air blasts that vibrate at an insane fre_q_uency, which is very painful and may tear your skin if you get hit by it for too long.

Everyone immediately falls silent since they have no clue to beat Shocker, even with Sonic at their aid.

The Twilight Brigade might as well give up and call the others from the Nutsy Guild since the villain is too much for them to handle. However, a lesson from the past has taught Kyuu never to give up in any case. That also applies for the rest of the brigade.

All the sudden, Kyuu remembers something from their earlier fight with Shocker, mainly Sakura's intervention in the fight. There is something about her part of the fight that catches his attention the most. He notices that her surging energy attack, Hadoken, seems to have some sort of effect on Shocker's suit.

Other than the surging energy, Kyuu has something else in mind. The boy turns his attention to Sonic. He knows that the hedgehog can run faster than the speed of sound, which he immediately thinks that it may be able to help them with their fight.

Now that he gives more thought about it, the detective boy finally realizes something about the suit's protective barrier.

While Shocker's suit does protect the former from its own power, the Hadoken seems to have some sort of effect on the barrier as it manages to hold onto the barrier trying to break through even though the barrier still deflects the surging energy.

Even though Sonic's Homing Attack proves useless, Kyuu thinks that if the hedgehog uses the full extension of his speed, it may be able to break through the sound barrier.

With that in mind, what happens if they use a more powerful force against him? Well, there's only one way to find out.

Kyuu calls his friends to get their attentions.

"Everyone, here's the plan. We'll have to split up into three teams," Kyuu then prompts the Twilight Brigade to come closer to the former and sit together around him in circle. They all hear out his plan.

"One team needs to make a distraction and get everyone out of the house. While they're distracted, the other team will sneak into the backdoor and rescue the kids. As for Shocker, leave it to me and my team," Kyuu points his thumb beneath his chin with a smile.

"Wait a sec!" Daffy suddenly stands up, "Don't tell me I have to be a decoy again!"

"Oh no," Kyuu said with a smile, "They've already seen your face. I'd say we choose another one..."

Kyuu slowly turns his attention to one of the Twilight Brigade... Noel...

Noel quickly realizes that the young detective is looking directly at her, which causes her to have a bad feeling.

-/-

Noel is suddenly in a sailor uniform while holding a balloon and a large, round-shaped lollipop. Yes, it is the same one that Daffy wore earlier.

The blonde-haired girl is standing in front of the villains' hideout. As you can see, she's annoyed that she gets to be the 'decoy' but she goes along with it anyway.

The others are in position waiting for the signal. Some of them are reluctant with the plan as they feel sorry for Noel, which includes Kite and Kanon, while the others don't mind much, especially Daffy who's over_j_oyed that he's not the decoy this time.

With no time to waste, Noel starts to walk around back and forth in front of the house hoping to lure the Child Catcher out.

"_Is this really going to work?"_ Noel wonders since she doubts that the Child Catcher would fall for the 'trap,' especially that the latter has already seen her face.

To her surprise, the kidnapper suddenly bursts out of the house and approaches the blonde-haired girl in disguise. She's even more surprised when she notices that the Child Catcher doesn't recognize her. As for Shocker, he's still inside the house with the other thugs and he's clearly ticked that the Child Catcher goes outside just to catch the little girl.

As if things make Noel even more annoyed, the Child Catcher has to go and mistakes her for a boy...

"Hello there, little boy. Why are you here this late?" the Child Catcher asks in a jolly manner. Noel stares at the kidnapper with an innocent look, but in reality, she is VERY annoyed.

"But I am in a jolly mood, so how about free candies?" the Child Catcher suddenly opens up his coat with his right hand, revealing hundreds of lollipops. His other arm is behind his back. He is actually holding a taser.

Much to his confusion, our decoy has no reaction to the candies in his coat. Either way, there is no one around the street so it's a very good time for him to snatch the kid.

Watching them from inside the house, Shocker recognizes the little girl as one of the brigade. "Damn, is the ol' timer an idiot or what?!" Shocker snarls in an annoyed tone as he turns his attention to two of the thugs, "You two! Grab that idiot back here and get rid of that little girl!"

The two of the thugs acknowledge.  
They quickly burst out of the house to do their job until Kite and Kanon suddenly land right in front of them from above.

The Child Catcher, who is still trying to bribe the disguised Noel, senses the two brigade members' presence behind. "Now what?" the kidnapper turns around only to see Kite and Kanon easily defeating the thugs. "Y-You kiddie-winkies again?!" the Child Catcher yells until he hears a sound of a gun cocking. To his surprise, Noel is aiming one of her guns at him from behind.

"Uuhh..." The Child Catcher utters nervously.

Before anything else can happen, a pair of powerful blasts suddenly break through the house's walls and hit both Kite and Kanon, sending them both hurling across the street. Noel and the Child Catcher are also caught in the blast as the four of them are sent crashing to the ground. In the resulting mayhem, the Child Catcher is knocked out.

The three brigade members quickly stand up as they put the unconscious kidnapper on the ground. Facing at the house, the trio finds Shocker coming out from the house.

"Really thought I've taught you a lesson, kids. Guess kids these days are just too stubborn to quit," Shocker said as the goons come out as well, standing behind the villain.

"Hey! What did you do that for?!" Kite angrily asks pointing out his comrade on the ground.

"To teach the ol' timer a little lesson, o' course. He's starting to get on my nerves too," Shocker suddenly directs his gauntlets preparing to blast the three, "So are you."

Before the villain can unleash the concentrated blasts from his gauntlets, Sakura suddenly lands behind the villain facing at the thugs. She executes a vertical kick sending the thugs away. Shocker doesn't have enough time to counter the surprise attack as Sakura drops down and kicks the villain by his legs, forcing the latter to drop to the ground. The Street Fighter character then grabs the villain's leg and tosses him aside to the other part of the street.

Sakura quickly pursues Shocker leaving Kite and his team to take care of the remaining thugs. While that's going on, the others sneak into the house from the backdoor, taking out the guards silently.

"Gwah!" Shocker crashes to the ground. From that very moment, the villain sees a blue sphere homing directly at him. However, the suit emits the shock barrier. The sphere is deflected back into their upon colliding with the suit's barrier.

The blue sphere suddenly forms back to Sonic the Hedgehog as Sega's mascot quickly regains his footing and lands safely on the ground, distances away from Shocker.

Sakura soon arrives into the area as Kyuu and Kanata emerge from the shadows.

"You kids again?" Shocker quickly stands up, "You just never learn to quit, dontcha?"

Shocker immediately fires his gauntlets at both Sakura and Sonic though they both manage to evade it. During their evasion, the hedgehog notices Kyuu giving a hand sign, which the former quickly acknowledges as he suddenly runs off somewhere.

"Huh, looks like the hedgehog has abadoned ya'll," Shocker directs his right gauntlet at Kyuu and Kanata with his other gauntlet at Sakura. Instead of attacking, the three of them merely evades the villains' attacks.

"I admire your determination, kids, but I did warn ya that if ya'll disturb my business, I'll put you of yer misery," Shocker said as he continues to fire his gaunlets' blasts.

When Kyuu, Kanata, and Sakura are reunited as they land, the detective boy calls Shocker, which gains the said villain's attention and prompting him to stop attacking.

"Where did you get this?" Kyuu then shows the broken device from the plastic explosives, "Where did you steal this? Who supplied you with this?"

"Can't tell you that," Shocker immediately answers in a calm manner.

"Then tell me the why. Why did you help out that man into kidnapping children? What's your goal?" Kyuu asks again.

"Ain't nothin' personal, boy. It's just business here. The simple truth is, if a man's a man, he honors his responsibilities and this job's one o' mine," Shocker aims his gauntlets again at Kyuu and his two friend, "But you? You can say you're now one o' mine."

Shocker fires the blasts again.

The three continue to evade the blasts though they do not counter their enemy much to Shocker's confusion.

Almost a minute has passed and the trio is still not attacking.

"What the heck are ya'll doing?" Shocker asks in a Southern accent as he continues to fire his gauntlets' blasts. Their battle leaves several cracks and holes on the walls of lone houses. Not to mention, some of the walls are dented thanks to the blasts. Thankfully, the houses are abandoned so nobody is hurt.

Meanwhile, not too far from the brigade and Shocker's area, Sonic suddenly stops in his trail seeing that his distance is enough from there.

"Hope this works."  
Sonic crouches and curling into a fetal position while rolling on the ground in a rapid speed. The hedgehog continues to do so until he's formed into an oval-shaped sphere spinning in an insane speed.

"Ready... GO!?"

The blue hedgehog dashes off in a high speed while in a form of a blue meteorite. He moves so fast that his speed gives out a rapid wind blowing off some of the things in the street.

Back at the fight, Kyuu, Kanata, and Sakura are standing in front of Shocker. Even though they manage to dodge his blasts, it doesn't mean they can do it forever.

"You know, it ain't wise to waste a dangerous man's time," Shocker said in an ominous tone.

"Heh, we should be," Kyuu said as the detective boy smirks.

Just when Shocker is about to unleash the blasts from his gauntlets, he hears a loud windy noise coming from behind. He turns out and, to his surprise, sees the blue meteorite heading straight him. The trio quickly moves away from Shocker knowing that the attack is going to be devastating.

Once the blue hedgehog collides on Shocker, the suit's barrier kicks in and it's trying to push Sonic away. Fortunately, it proves to be useless as it results with an immense shock wave, sending Shocker flying into the air. Not only that, it also results with his suit and gauntlets damaged.

Sonic jumps high into the air above in time as he curls up into his sphere form. He then homes into Shocker like a speeding bullet. The blue hedgehog sends the said villain crashing against a series of walls until the villain ends up in another abandoned house, crashed directly on a wall.

Kyuu sighs in relief seeing that his plan actually works.  
Even if Shocker is protected by his suit's barrier, it's not invincible.

The boys and the girl stand together in a vertical line, watching at the hole where Shocker is thrown.

"So... It's over?" Kanata asks as Sonic suddenly appears next to the former.

"Yeah, that should take care of him," Sonic smirks as he turns his attention to Kyuu, "Nice plan there... Detective," the hedgehog gives him a thumbs up.

Kyuu chuckles nervously feeling flattered by the blue hedgehog's comment. It's quite surprise for him; a praise from one of the most famous video game characters of all time.

"Well now," Kyuu turns around facing the direction to the villain's hideout, "That leaves only one thing."

Back at the street with the hideout, the Child Catcher is still unconscious. While he's still out cold, there are sounds of beatings coming from the house as something suddenly slides on the ground and stops near the kidnapper.

From that moment, the Child Catcher slowly regains conscious.

"Oh... My head..." the kidnapper groans in pain. His visions soon become clear and he is very shocked to his goons, who are armed with different weapons, are battered and beaten. They're all lying on the ground, completely out cold.

The villain also sees Kite, Noel, and Kanon standing in front of the house.

His calm, silly demeanor immediately changes into anger. He finally has enough since the brigade has already tarnishes his name.

"Those... Little..." He slowly stands up as he notices a shotgun, a Winchester Liberator type, next to him. He also notices that the trio hasn't realized that he's now awake. Seeing it as an opportunity, he immediately picks the shotgun up and aims it at the trio.

"Bye-bye... Kiddie-winkies," the Child Catcher smiles sinisterly as he pulls the trigger. Multiple bullets are fired from its rear as they home toward the unexpected trio.

However, as soon as the bullets are getting closer to the trio, a girl's voice suddenly yells, "**Oblique**!" as orange light engulfs the bullets. The bullets suddenly curve around and smash to a wall on the left.

"W-What?!" the Child Catcher yelps in surprise to see that as the trio looks behind to see the kidnapper holding the Winchester Liberator shotgun. Noel immediately fires her pistols, shooting the shotgun out of the kidnapper's hands.

The kidnapper sees Nina who's just arrived outside holding out her magic staff higher. Dark Magician Girl also arrives outside and join Nina.

All the sudden, they hear loud noises coming from inside the house.

"And the cavalry has arrived!" Dark Magician Girl shouts optimistically as she and Nina step aside. A large group of children suddenly jump out of the house's door equipped with buckets as helmets and various objects used as weapons, such as a toy mallet, a mop, a frying pan, and so much more.

The Child Catcher is now even more surprised to see the captive children freed. He also notices the bright looks on their faces, which he quickly deduces what the children are going to do with him. His suspicions are confirmed when Daffy Duck suddenly bursts out of the house dressed up as Napoleon Bonaparte, completed with a bicorne hat.

"Boys and girls!" Daffy pulls out a wooden sword and points it at the villain, "CHAARRGE!?"

The children yells, "YAY!" as they run toward the Child Catcher with Daffy as their leader.

The Child Catcher just stands there with a very anxious look and a big smile on his face.

"Mommy, I don't want to do this anymore..." the Child Catcher utters as the children rushes him and they start hitting him over and over again.

-/-

Few minutes later, the Knights have finally arrived at the old street.

All the bad guys are taken to custody, including the Child Catcher who's been taken away with a very goofy look on his face.

Many citizens also arrive to see the scene, but they're mainly the parents of the missing children. They happily reunite with each other, especially the parents who miss their children so much, to the point they shed tears.

The Twilight Brigade, Sonic, and Daffy watch at the sidelines watching the tearful reunion. "H-Hey, look!" Noel points at a familiar face... It is their client, Erika Mildrage. The young woman is embracing her son, Jayden.

Before they can leave, the entire parents suddenly approach the Twilight Brigade. The adults know that the eight teens are responsible for the rescue. To show that they're grateful for their job, they begin to reward them with large sacks one by one. Each bag contains 5,000 Gs, which is actually a lot.

The people's rewards really surprise the brigade, especially Daffy Duck.

"This... This is really our reward?" Kyuu said in awe since he can't really believe to see such enormous amount of money.

"Oh, this is RICH! RICH, I tell you!" Daffy suddenly snatches one of the sacks and looks at it. The duck's pupils are replaced with dollar signs.

However, their celebration is cut short when they overhear some of the Knights talking. Shocker isn't at the house. In fact, the villain has escaped...

* * *

**Home**

The next day, the Twilight Brigade returns to their home alongside Sonic and Daffy Duck.

It is a cheerful morning.  
The civilians are more lively with their daily lives, especially the ones who have just gotten their children back.

"Man... That was one tough job..." Kyuu said as he relaxes on a couch.  
"You said it," Dark Magician Girl sits down by her favorite chair.

"Huh, well that's one heck of a ride. We did pretty good, except that the Shocker dude got away," Sonic adds.

"Ah, who cares if he got away!" Daffy shouts as he's sitting on a chair with bags of cashes around it, "We got money! TONS of them! Oh, can I keep one?"

"You?" Kanata glances at the black duck.  
"Hey, I work hard too, y'know! I risked my feathers to help you kids catch the kidnapper!" Daffy shouts back.

"Well... You guys did help us, so I guess we can share you some of the money," Kyuu said much to the duck's delight.

Suddenly, someone knocks on the door.

"_Huh? Who could that be?"_ Everyone wonders the same thing.

Kanon makes his way through the living room and reaches the door. When he opens it wide, he finds the very strict Piccolo standing right there.

Everyone has a clear view of Piccolo. Kyuu is a bit surprised to see the Dragon Ball Z character as the Namekian glances at the money bags beneath Daffy. Piccolo stares at the money for a while until he suddenly raises his fingers preparing to snap it.

"Boys, you may take it," Piccolo snaps his fingers as very short men in shining armors suddenly burst into the house. They run very fast as they quickly swift all the money bags from beneath the black duck, much to everyone's surprise.

Within seconds, all the short men exit the house with the money.

"W-What the- HEY!" Daffy quickly jumps from the comfy furniture with a very angry look on his face, "That's downright stealing!? What's the big idea?!"

Dark Magician Girl suddenly stands up and approaches the Namekian. "Mr. Piccolo, what're you doing?! Do you know that you're actually stealing!" She yells angrily at him. Seeing Dark Magician Girl stands up to Piccolo, it prompts Sakura to follow her example.

"What did we actually do wrong this time?!" Sakura yells.  
"We worked really hard to capture the kidnappers and we managed to stop them too!" Dark Magician Girl also yells.

"Hmph, I admit you've done a better job than your previous assignment..." Piccolo closes his eyes for a moment, "But all of you did not one, but TWO mistakes!" The Namekian suddenly opens his eyes as his expression turns into an angry look. He immediately shows a clear photo shot of the old street, mainly the area where the brigade fought Shocker, the Child Catcher, and the thugs. Most of the houses in the almost abandoned street are either dented or nearly destroyed.

"One, you let a very dangerous man escaped!? A man that dangerous poses serious threat! Now you're putting innocent lives at stake! Two, property damage is is unbelievable!? If it was just a rescue assignment, you could've minimized the damages!?"

Piccolo's argument is reasonable enough to take their money. You could say it's their punishment for wrecking the area too much, if you think about.

"Since I've heard all of you got so much cash, we'll have to use your reward to pay for the damages," Piccolo said. The Namekian is the Twilight Brigade's superior authority, so they have no choice but to obey.

However, not for Daffy. The black duck thinks that a little wrecking once in a while is okay for everyone. Thus, they must keep the money.

"Well then," Piccolo turns away from the door, "The next time you have a new assignment, I expect you to be better. MUCH better!"

"Oooooh no, you don't!" Daffy suddenly dashes toward the door in an attempt to tackle Piccolo and take back the money. Unfortunately, by the time the duck reaches the door, the Namekian slams the door shut. As a comical result, Daffy smashes directly on the door, flat as a paper.

Everyone stare at the flattened duck blankly as each of them drops a single sweat.

Kyuu sighs, clearly disappointed by the result. Even though they've done a much better job with their second job, they still have no reward. Now how can they live their lives if they're low on money?

The detective boy suddenly feels a hand pats on his shoulder. He turns to his right and finds his friend, Kanata. The latter smiles at the former. "We did our best, Kyuu. At least we've saved those poor kids," he said to the detective boy.

Hearing the kind words coming from the Daa! Daa! Daa! character, Kyuu smiles back. The detective boy nods. "Yeah, what's important is that they're back with their families."

The boys turn their attention to Daffy who got himself out of the door.

"Yeah, but what about us?!" Daffy yells at the boys, "I've worked really hard to get this far and got nothing?! How fair is that?!"

"Oh,it's nothing, alright," Sonic smirks as he suddenly shows three sacks of money in his hands much to everyone's surprise.

"S-Sonic? A-Are those-"  
"Ain't it obvious? I took these just before Piccolo came in."

The blue hedgehog tosses Kyuu and Kanata two of the three money sacks.

"E-Eh? F-For us?" Kyuu asks in a disbelieved tone as he turns at Sonic the Hedgehog. "Hey, you guys definitely deserve a break," Sonic said back giving the detective boy a thumbs-up. The boy can't believe it that he hears those kind words from a very famous video game character. Gratefulness and relief, those feelings mix around the detective boy's head as he nods cheerfully at the hedgehog.

Kyuu and Kanata open the sacks as they look at the money inside. The rest of the brigade gathers around the two boys as they want to see their reward too. The money is actually a lot and it's enough for all eight to share.

"Oh, and here's your share," Sonic tosses the last sack to Daffy much to the latter's delight.

"Why thank you! All of you!" Daffy hysterically shouts as he quickly runs to the door. The duck then exits the house with the door slams loudly.

"Well, that's surprisingly nice of you, Sonic," Kanata said, noting that the blue hedgehog isn't usually nice to Daffy Duck, considering the former likes to torture the latter in numerous, but harmless ways.

"Catch," Sonic suddenly said as he tosses another sack.

Noel is able to catch the sack.  
"Huh? You have four all along?" Noel asks in a surprised tone. She opens up the sack and notices that the amount of money inside is the same as the ones they have.

"Nope, just three," Sonic said with a smile.

-  
Daffy is now far from the house and the duck hides in an alleyway.

"Yes, YES! I got my money! And it's all mine, ALL MINE!" The duck laughs hysterically. From this point, you should've known our duck's real intention.

"Now what I'm gonna do with this? Should I spend it all or keep it to myself?" Daffy wonders to himself as he opens the sack.

The duck looks inside...  
A silent moment takes over as the duck stares inside the sack with a happy look on his face...

Much to Daffy's chagrin, there's no money inside the sack at all. Instead, the sack is full of useless bottle caps.

"WHY THAT SONOVAG-"  
-

"I knew it," Kanata chuckles with his eyes closed after hearing from Sonic that Daffy's sack is actually a dud.

"B-But aren't you a bit mean with Mr. Daffy?" Noel asks raising her tone a bit at the blue hedgehog. Kyuu suddenly approaches the blonde-haired gunner with a silly grin on his face. "Don't worry, Noel. It's Daffy Duck, whaddya expect?" he said to her.

"I don't know..." Noel utters while looking down on the ground.

-/-

_Few minutes later..._

Kyuu sits down on the house's bench, just outside his new home.

The detective boy decides to have fresh air of the outdoors after another hard work. This time, their job is a success though with a few problems.

Kyuu watches the street around the house. Today, there are more people walking around the street than yesterday. New faces include the freed children who are playing outside with their friends. Some of the people are actually families that decide to go various places such as the local restaurant for lunch.

Seeing all the happy faces from both the adults and the kids make Kyuu overjoyed. His second assignment with his brigade actually help people.

"Hey, Kyuu," a familiar voice suddenly calls out.

Kyuu looks to his right and finds Kanata holding two Pepsi cans. The brown-haired boy hands the detective boy a can. "Thanks," Kyuu said with an optimistic look. The latter then sits on the bench next to the former.

"What a day, isn't it?" Kanata starts to talk with Kyuu while watching the people in the street.

"Yeah, I'm really glad everything turns out well at the end," Kyuu said while drinking his soda.

"But I'm really surprised about you, Kyuu," Kanata suddenly said gaining the detective boy's full attention, "I didn't expect much from you, but you actually did more for our group. Solving that 'logic' test, your help with our first assignment, now today. You really are a detective, you know."

The detective boy blushes a bit feeling flattered.

"I... I didn't do much, Kanata," Kyuu said in a quieter tone, "I'm still weak compare to you and the others. I just thought up what's best for us and help you guys all the way."

Kanata pats Kyuu on the latter's shoulder.  
"Don't be too modest, Kyuu. We're looking out with each other. I'm just glad that we have you as our friend."

Friend?  
Now that's one word that Kyuu likes.

Even though Kyuu doesn't know anything about Kanata, the main character from a comedy-romantic series, he now knows that the boy in the kimono is a nice person. He begins to feel a faint bond growing between them, a similar bond he felt with Kite and Dark Magician Girl.

"But..." Kanata suddenly said again showing that he's not finished yet. Kyuu looks closely at his new friend thinking that the brown-haired boy is going to tell him something important.

"You're right about one thing... You are weak, so do you mind being our practice dummy?" Kanata said out loud with a straight look much to Kyuu's shock. "Kanata... I just don't get you..." the detective boy utters in an annoyed tone.

Shrugging off Kanata's weird comment, Kyuu looks up the morning blue sky. He also wonders about Shocker's whereabouts, but he knows that he's not going to see the villain for a long time. Especially the fact that the villain has suffered quite the pain from Sonic's Spindash attack.

Outside of town, a man in neat clothes and a cowboy hat is watching the town from a distant. He appears to have bandages all over his arms and his cheeks.

The man suddenly receives a call from his earpiece communicator.

"I'm out of town, boss," the man speaks in a familiar Southern accent, "And thanks for the help. A second late, I would've ended up in the slammer with them amateurs."

"_Hey, no problem, Mr. M._"

"And sorry about-"

"_Nah, not to worry. They're distracted enough. And I got another plan here to distract them even more. Your reward's at the rendezvous point._"

"Thanks boss," the mysterious man smiles.

"But one thing I have to warn ya... I'd be careful with them kids if I were you. They got me pretty good and it ain't no beginner's luck. Especially that kid with the weird hair."

"_Bah, that ain't your business. I'd still say it's beginner's luck. Just go get your reward be gone with it!_"

The communication cuts off.

The man looks at Densel Town one last time before he turns and walks away...

"I'll see you again, boy..."

_**End of Chapter**_

**-XX-**

Kyuu and the Twilight Brigade's next assignment ends better than the first one through a few twists. In addition, Kyuu gets to know Kanata bit more.

However, the mysterious 'boss' is still yet to known and he seems to have another plan. Just what's exactly his intention?

A little trivia:  
The name _John Ditko_ (the false name Shocker used) is actually derived from two famous comic book artists, _**John**_** Romita Sr.** (the Italian-American comic-book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man and co-creator of the villain, Shocker) and _**Steve**_** Ditko **(comic book artist and writer best known as the artist and co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange).

"_UHXQLRQ"  
"VWUHHW ILJKW"_


	8. Chapter 5: Fallen Angel part 1

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own some of the characters in the story. The characters that will appear in this fic are owned by their respective owners. There will also be OCs that are owned by their respective authors.

-/-

_Unusual friendship between two certain heroes..._

_Where would that lead to?_

**Rakenzarn Tales**

**-/-**

**-Cyril Region-**

There's another town in the region. In fact, it's not that far from Densel Town and there aren't a lot of danger on the way. It is safe. That town is called **Sivurd**.

Sivurd Town bears slight resemblance to Densel Town albeit smaller. The very things that distinguishes it from the said town are a large institution, known as Greydon Institution, in the eastern side and a park in the middle of town.

Civilians, both humans and anthropomorphic beings, walk across the streets side by side doing their own businesses.

Our story begins at the Greydon Institution.

Kite is actually there, standing in front of a door with a circular-shaped glass window on it, containing one of the patients. The people accompanying the .hack protagonist are a doctor and a nurse.

"So how is he?" Kite asks the doctor.

"Not good, I'm afraid," the doctor said in a worried tone, "I was hoping that he'd feel better if we moved him here, in his birth place, but it only made him worse."

The .hack protagonist doesn't know what to say about the bad news. He seems to know the patient just beyond the door and he's hoping to see his condition. Kite peeks the room through the glass window and finds the patient inside.

He finds a young man in a hazard suit, completed with a deployable mask, inside. The patient is sitting on a chair looking down blankly at the floor. The room is quite clean too with the wall made out of white cotton. There's also a bed and a sink.

Kite knocks gently on the glass window hoping to get the patient's attention. The response? Nothing at all. The patient continues to stare down at the floor.

"Mr. _**Dillon**_?" Kite decides to call the patient by his name, but the result remains the same.

"I guess he doesn't want to see me right now," Kite said in a low tone, leaning away from the door.

"I'm sorry, there's nothing much we can do," the doctor said to Kite, "But we'll do our best to make him better. He just needs some time to adapt with his new... Well, 'gift' if you look at it that way."

Kite nods at the doctor as he excuses himself to leave. Before he exits the hallway to the lobby, he looks back at the patient's cell one more time.

-/-

Kite reaches the lobby, ready to get back home at Densel Town. The lobby is filled up with staff members and people, who may be related to the patients in the Greydon Institution.

While on the way, the boy in red is still thinking about the particular patient. You may suspect that the man might be obviously a friend of Kite and he's quite worried about his well-being. Something has happened to him and it granted an unusual 'gift,' but as a result, it made him paranoid.

Right now, the doctors are trying their best to cure his paranoia.

As soon as Kite enters the lobby, he meets someone he doesn't expect at all.

Sitting on one of the benches is Sakura Kasugano.

"Hey, Kite!" the cheerful girl waves her hand at the boy. The latter is a little bit surprised to her. The former dashes forward approaching him.

"Sakura? How did you find me?" Kite asks raising an eyebrow.  
"I followed you here," Sakura answers with a cheerful look on her face.

Now that makes Kite wonder since when Sakura becomes his 'stalker.' Hearing that from her makes it very awkward, especially that she says it with a bright look as if it's normal for her.

Kite takes a deep breath before he asks her further.

"May I ask you why?"  
He gets his answer when Sakura shouts, "FOLLOW ME!" followed by dragging him outside.

* * *

**Densel Town**

It takes approximately half an hour to return home.

"W-Where are we going?" Kite asks in an anxious tone. He and Sakura are now at a certain street just across the Shopping District. "I'll explain when we get there," Sakura answers cheerfully, continuing to drag him across the street by his collar.

"Okay, but... Can't you just let go?" Kite asks kindly until Sakura suddenly let go of his collar.

"We're here!" Sakura shouts in an energetic tone.

Kite looks around his surroundings and notices that he's in an unfamiliar neighborhood. Not to many people are around as well with the exception of the brigade members and a few punks.

Nearby the .hack and Street Fighter characters is a grocery store. The latter immediately notices that the store has the sign 'open' on it, which is immediately flipped to 'close' by the store's owner. Kite manages to catch a glimpse on the owner's face, noticing a stressed look.

The boy in red turns his attention to the other people in the neighborhood. He notices that many people are watching down the street from their windows. There are even people with excited looks on their faces as if they're watching a game show. The most notable ones in the street are a pair of well-dressed men with a microphone.

"What's going on here?" Kite wonders as Sakura suddenly stands behind him, in a back-to-back position. "Get ready," the upbeat girl whispers at the young boy as she poses into her defensive stance. Kite looks at her with a confused look saying, "Ready for what?"

From that moment, Kite hears one of the well-dressed men shouting through the microphone.

"EVERYONE, THE STREET FIGHT BEGINS NOW!"

Punks and ruffians jump out of their hiding places. Most of them appear to be muscular while some carry blunt weapons.

Once they're out in the opening, the punks suddenly begin to fight each other in pairs.

"A-A street fight?!" Kite is completely surprised to see the people fighting all over the neighborhood until Sakura taps on his shoulder gaining his attention. "Sorry to drag you here without telling, I need a partner to join up," she said to him in a cheerful manner.

"So that's why you dragged me here?!" Kite shouts in a shocked manner looking at her. Before the boy can say anything else to the upbeat girl, a pair of punks jump out of nowhere preparing to attack them both.

Kite and Sakura immediately respond to their attacks by performing their respective kicks at the punks.

-Chapter 5 part 1-  
Fallen Angel

"YEOW!"  
"GWAAH!"

Both punks are sent crashing onto a wall. The brigade's attacks are strong enough to knock them out in an instant.

"Look, Kite," Sakura turns her attention to Kite as she folds her hands in a clapping position, "I'm reaaallly sorry I didn't tell you this sooner, it's just that I couldn't find a partner anywhere and I was running outta time. You're the only guy I could find."

"M-Me?" Kite utters in surprise.  
"Well, I could go for the others, but they're not home. I mean, nobody's at home," Sakura said back.

Kite nods now that he understands the reason Sakura wants him as her 'partner.' While glancing at his fellow brigade member, another punk sneaks up behind the boy in an attempt to attack by surprise. Fortunately, Kite senses the punk as he immediately turns around and punches the punk by the face, knocking the latter out in an instant.

"Well, you could've explained to me on the way," Kite said to her in a kind tone.

The same goes to Sakura, another punk (possibly the other punk's partner) tries to attack her from behind but the teen Street Fighter gives the punk the elbow while looking at Kite. The punk yelps painfully as he drops on the ground.

"Hehe, I said I'm sorry," Sakura chuckles as she scratches the back of her head.

All the sudden, a pair of large, muscular men confront the two brigade members. "Well, lookie what we have here," one of the pair said gleefully, "A couple of brats think they're smart!"

"Hey dude, remember the time we used to dump our ol' pals into the garbage pile?" the other muscular man asks his pal with a devious smile, "Let's do the same to them!"

Before any of the large punks can do anything, Kite comes up close with one of them and punches rapidly on the stomach. The impact leaves the punk in pain as Kite gets behind and kicks the latter sending him flying across the area. The thug crashes into wall. In a comical moment, the thug drops out of the wall only to land inside a dumpster.

"What the hell?!" the second muscular punk is surprised to see Kite and he glares at the short boy. "WHY YOU-" the punk attempts to punch Kite, but the latter immediately dodges the attack followed by Sakura grabbing the punk's arm. The Street Fighter girl then throws the punk across the area and lands on the same dumpster as well.

"Somehow... This feels wrong," Kite utters feeling awkward for knocking out a pair of punks. Sakura playfully taps on Kite's head. "You'll get used to it!" She said in a cheerful manner as she charges at another group of punks.

"SAKURA, WAIT! DON'T DO SOMETHING SO RECKLESSLY!"

Just when Kite is about to pursue Sakura...

"KEN MASTERS!"

A tall, obese man with long, blonde, braid hair suddenly runs across the boy in red and stands in the latter's way. The man also appears to be wearing a yellow and black jumpsuit.

"W-What?"  
"YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD ESCAPE FROM ME, KEN MASTERS?! WELL, THINK AGAIN! EVEN THAT NEW DISGUISE OF YOURS AIN'T HELPIN' EITHER, I'LL ALWAYS FIND YOU! I KNEW YOUR FAVORITE COLOR'S RED, YOU SHOULD'VE PICKED ANOTHER COLOR! THIS TIME, I'M GONNA KNOCK THE LIGHTS OUTTA YOU AND CUT INTO PIECES AND THEN PUT THEM ALL TOGETHER AND THEN DO IT AGAIN SIX TIMES AND-"

The fat man continues to rambling over the boy much to the latter's confusion. Kite figures that the man mistakes himself as someone the obese man knows. The boy in red tries to speak up, but the man's rambles prevent him from doing so.

"Comrade, stop!" another voice yells. This time, the voice seems to have Russian accent.

Kite turns to the left side of the obese man. He finds a massive fighter approaching slowly. The fighter has brown beard and mohawk with a uniquely shaped formation of chest hair on his torso and on his shins. The tall man doesn't wear any clothes at all, he only wears a simple red wrestling trunks with a gold belt, along with red and gold wristbands and his wrestling boots. Another thing to note about the man's appearance is the scars on his massive body.

"Comrade, that's not Ken Masters," the large man said while pointing his index finger at Kite, "Look at him. He's far too small and far too young to be him. He doesn't even look like him. In fact, don't bother the poor, helpless boy."

"Hmmm..." the obese man looks at the .hack protagonist in a more determined manner, "_**Zangief**_, you're probably right, but what if it's a body double by one of 'em voodoo magic? It's just everybody these days are using magic and no body building, you know what I mean? But if that's what they want, go ahead! Everyone has their own mojo, but not as big as mine! I got so much mojo that it's literally pouring outta me and-"

The obese man continues to spill out more nonsensical conclusion much to Kite's confusion. That's until the large man, Zangief, decides to cut him short and tries to convince him otherwise.

As both the obese man and Zangief continue to discuss, Kite decides to ignore them and looks at Sakura who's taking down several punks without a problem. However, he speaks too soon when he notices that a maniacal-looking punk with a large club is ascending toward her.

"Sakura, look out!" Kite quickly moves in to aid Sakura. His actions have attracted both the fat man and the muscular wrestler. The two fighters see Kite moving in an unbelievable speed as the boy jumps high into the air heading for the crazed punk.

Not only Kite's action attracts the two Street Fighter characters, but Sakura as well. From that moment, she has already taken down most of her opponents, save for one punk who's just standing there and watching Kite in midair.

The punk is too late to notice Kite as the latter moves too fast.

Once he reaches for his opponent, Kite delivers a kick directly on the punk's body forcing the latter to drop his club. Kite then moves in the air getting behind the punk.

"Sakura, heads-up!" Kite kicks the crazed punk toward Sakura. As a follow-up, Sakura throws a punch sending the punk crashing toward the last punk, knocking both out in an instant.

Sakura smiles after the successful team attack until she notices the obese man. The latter is clearly stunned to see Kite's stupendous performance.

"Oh, hey there, _**Rufus**_," Sakura waves her hand at the fat man, whose name is none other than Rufus.

Hearing his name from Sakura, Rufus snaps back to reality as he looks at Sakura. "YOU!" he suddenly shouts as he points his index finger at the girl, "YOU'RE THAT LITTLE BRAT WHO'S HANGING OUT WI-"

Unfortunately, Rufus is cut short when Zangief pats the former by his shoulder and gently push him aside. Like Rufus, the Russian wrestler is in awe to see Kite's speed and strength, having his eyes on the boy in red.

"Little boy strong," Zangief said as Kite lands next to Sakura.

"I challenge you, little boy! Have at you!" Zangief shouts as he poses into his offensive stance.

Kite still doesn't feel right to fight someone without a good reason, even though it's a street fighting tournament.

However, before they can battle, they hear someone crying out loud. What catches their attention is that the cry appears to be very painful. The four looks at the direction of the cry. They find a gang of street punks beating up someone. Both Kite and Sakura immediately notice that the victim is already beaten, yet the gang continues to beat him.

Most of the gang members are fairly muscular and armed with blunt weapons, such as a pipe and a club. Each of the gang member has a tattoo of a red snake on their arms. Another thing to mention about them is that the members are both men and women.

"Hey, you!" Sakura's expression immediately changes from her usual cheerful self into anger. She immediately dashes toward the gang, yelling at them to stop repeatedly though no avail. Kite immediately dashes alongside Sakura.

As soon as the two brigade members get close to the gang, they both execute their dropkicks sending most of them flying away.

"I said stop!" Sakura shouts as she and Kite stand between the punks and the beaten man, "He's hurt already! You're gonna kill him if you keep beating him up!"

The Street Fighter glares at the gang members until she recognizes one of them much to her surprise. The one appears to be a girl with purple, ponytailed hair. She wears a sleeveless black shirt and blue jeans. Sakura is surprised to see the girl.

"What's the deal?" Kite speaks up toward the gang with snake tattooes, "What did he do to you?"

"Heh, look here, boys and girls," one of the punks, the leader, emerge from the rest. He appears to be a slightly large man in his early 20s with a black, crew cut styled hair and a goatee. The man appears to be wearing black shirt and pants with a skull picture on his torso. In addition, he has rings on his nose and his right ear. "Some kids think they're tough," the gang's leader said followed by a chuckle.

"Let's say we give the guy a break and teach these babies a little lesson," the leader said as he snaps his finger ordering one of his pals to give him a baseball bat.

Kite soon realizes what the gang leader meant.  
The ones with weapons march forward while the unarmed members step backward.

Before the punks can attack both Kite and Sakura, Zangief suddenly comes to their aid and performs a clothesline sending some of the punks flying away.

"Z-Zangief?" Sakura utters the Russian wrestler's name in surprise.

"We do not harm those who are already beaten. This is an absurd!" Zangief shouts angrily at the gang members. A few gang members are intimidated by the massive wrestler prompting them to run, including the girl that Sakura seems to know.

For the other punks, they draw out their respective weapons directing them at Zangief.

"Hey, over here!" Rufus cries out attracting the armed punks' attention, "Yeah, I'm talking to you! Ya know, all this beating up a guy who's clearly beaten in the first pisses me off! If you think that's okay and all, how 'bout you feel that for once?! Yeah, I'd like-"

Rufus' ramblings are cut short when one of the punks attempt to bash him with a golf club. Surprisingly, Rufus shows that he's more agile than he looks by evading the punk's golf club.

"Hey, I'm talking here, pal!" Rufus yells as he executes a flying kick directly at the punk. In the resulting attack, the punk drops his golf club. It doesn't end there though, as Rufus' next attack is a backflip kick right on the punk's chin. The latter is sent backwards feeling much pain.

"W-What?!" the punks are surprised to see a fat man capable of doing an incredible feat, which even surprises Kite. The only word the boy in red can say is, "Wow."

"Dammit, don't let these idiots make fools outta us!" the punk leader yells at his friends in anger. He points his baseball bat at Zangief ordering the muscular members to attack him. He then points at Rufus ordering the rest to attack.

One of the muscular punks tries to attack Zangief. Fortunately, the Russian wrestler holds the punk's fist. The massive man then grabs and holds the punk upside down by the waist, then leaps into the air in a sitting position with the punk's head between his legs. Spinning rapidly in midair, Zangief slams the punk into the ground.

After taking out the larger foe, Zangief turns his attention to the other punks. The larger, more muscular enemies charge at the massive wrestler. In a close moment, Zangief executes a spinning clothesline twice, knocking away all the large punks.

At the same time, the other punks also charge at Rufus. Fortunately, the obese Street Fighter spins like a top, knocking the incoming enemies away except for one who manages to avoid getting hit by his hurling comrades. The fighter then stops spinning as he focuses on the last punk, throwing a palm strike on the punk resulting in an instant knock out.

Another skinny punk charges at Rufus with a knife. In a surprising moment, Rufus jumps into the air in a somersault fashion over the punk and lands behind the latter. The fighter then throws a double-handed palm strike at the punk's back, knocking him out as well.

"Now stay down! Weapons like that ain't gonna put me down, y'know what I mean?" Rufus gloats at the beaten punk. As soon as he turns around, he finds a crazed punk with a mohawk styled hair pointing a gun at him. "EXCEPT FOR GUNS!" Rufus shouts anxiously as he quickly raises his hands.

Suddenly, they hear a faint sound of sword slashing as Kite appears next to the punk, holding one of his blades. The next thing that happens, the punk's gun is cut into tiny pieces. "Oh crap!" the punk yelps as Kite suddenly points his blade at the former's neck. The boy in red glares at the gang member and the latter stares at the former with a fearful expression. "Get out of here," Kite utters prompting the punk to run for his life.

Seeing the combine efforts of the Street Fighter and .hack characters, the punk leader yells out to his crew to scram. They hurriedly run to the northern path in panic.

"Yeah, that's right!" Rufus starts to gloat at the fleeing gang, "Run away! If I ever see your faces 'round here again, I'll punch your lights out and I'll squeeze your-"

Ignoring Rufus' gloat over the defeated gang, Kite runs to Sakura's side. He's clearly worried for her safety especially that he notices a worried look on her face. "Sakura, are you okay?" Kite asks Sakura, snapping the latter back to reality.

"I-I'm fine, thanks!" Sakura answers cheerfully, patting the boy in red by his unusual hat.

"But... Who are those guys?" Kite wonders.

"Those punks?" Rufus' voice suddenly calls out. Both Kite and Sakura turn to their right and find Rufus standing right there. Behind the obese fighter is Zangief.

"They call themselves the Blood Vipers! They thought they'd owned this neighborhood!" Rufus explains to the two teens.

"I do not know much about them, little boy and girl, but they're nothing but a bunch of troublemakers thinking they rule this neighborhood. They want to show that they're in charge by beating up bunch of people and ask for protection money," Zangief explains to the two as well.

"I see," Kite nods as he stares at the direction where the gang has fled. Seeing that the Blood Vipers as nothing more but street gang, Kite begins to think that their fight with them isn't going to stop them at all. They may still be causing trouble over the neighborhood. As a brigade of the Nutsy Guild, it's their job to ensure the safety of Densel Town.

Another thing that worries .hack hero is Sakura. There's something about the Blood Vipers that seem to worry her...

**Home**

Few minutes later, Kyuu is in the living room playing chess with Dark Magician Girl. Kanata, Nina, Noel, and Kanon are also in the room watching the match between the unusual pair.

Dark Magician Girl has a very serious expression written all over her face as she stares down at her chess pieces, which are colored yellow.

For Kyuu, his is nothing more but a blank, emotionless expression. His chess pieces are red colored.

Dark Magician Girl seems to be losing as she only has 3 pieces left: a horse, a knight, and a king.

Kyuu, on the other hand, still has 10 pieces left.

She stares at her pieces for about a minute as a single sweat drops from her hair. The magician eventually makes her next move by moving her knight. Unfortunately, Kyuu makes his move and he utters, "Checkmate." That alone shocks the blonde-haired magician.

"Y-You gotta be kidding me?!" Dark Magician Girl yells in frustration as she looks down at the chessboard. Much to her chagrin, she finds out that her king has been cornered with no way out. Thus, she has lost to Kyuu in a game of chess.

"Wow... You do suck at chess," Kanata compliments the Yu-Gi-Oh! girl with a straight face. The latter glares at the former and snarls, "Is that supposed to be funny?"

Not only Dark Magician Girl is surprised that she has lost, but Noel and Nina as well. "That's... The 30th time DMG lost," Nina utters in surprise. "Tell me about it... First, it was Kanata, Kanon, Daffy, Sonic, and now her," Noel also utters in surprise.

"Yeah. Even though Kyuu's the weakest among us, he's pretty smart too," Kanata said complimenting the detective boy as he watches Dark Magician Girl yelling at a dismayed Kyuu. That's where the DDS boy and the magician girl engage in another argument over something else, only a bit childish.

"Say," Nina turns her attention to Kanata, "Shouldn't you be training him right about now?"

"Nah, I'll pass this time," Kanata also turns his attention to the young witch, "He's been learning for quite a while and manages to master a bit of his class' abilities. I mean, he can conjure gauntlets, a sword, and recently a bō staff."

"I see," Nina utters, now understands Kanata's reason.

Noel notices that Kanon is quiet as usual. When she turns her head toward the sullen boy, she notices that the Umineko character is reading a news article. "What're you reading?" She kindly asks, gaining Kanon's full attention.

"Three people have gone missing today," Kanon answers in a monotone voice. His response to Noel's question also attracts the others' attention, including Dark Magician Girl who's strangling and shaking Kyuu in a comical manner.

"Missing again?" Kyuu utters as Dark Magician Girl let go of him.

"Okay, first kids, now adults?" the magician girl wonders raising an eyebrow.  
"Huh, what's next? Missing animals?" Kanata shrugs.

Now that Dark Magician Girl mentions it, Kyuu notices that right after the child napping case, there have been some people going missing, mainly adults and teenagers. Could they be actually related?

Hundreds of questions cloud the detective boy's mind until Kanon begins to speak up.  
"Actually, it's not the first time. I believe there's a similar incident of missing people a year ago. Nobody knows where they are now, they remain missing until this very day."

Now that makes Kyuu feel uneasy.

In addition, Kyuu manages to catch a glimpse on a picture of a black haired man (with a small scar beneath his right eye) on the news article, presumably one of the missing people. He also notices some other pictures beneath the missing man. Those pictures are actually the missing people from last year.

Eventually, Kite and Sakura return home.

"We're home," Kite waves his hand toward his fellow comrades.

"Welcome home!" Nina waves her hand back prompting the others to greet their friends. The others immediately notice that Sakura isn't acting by herself. She's usually the one who greets them first. In fact, she doesn't look too happy, more like sad.

"Sakura, is something wrong?" Nina asks.

The Street Fighter girl just smiles sadly.

Kite decides to explain everything about their little encounter with a street gang.

The .hack boy calls out the Twilight Brigade as they sit down in the living room.

-/-

Kite finishes explaining his friends about Sakura's and his encounter with the Blood Vipers.

"Okay, so what is it about them?" Kyuu asks Sakura.

The Street Fighter girl is silent for a few moments. She finally speaks up to her friends.

"I... I know one of them," Sakura said much to her friends' surprise, "Her name is Angel. Angel Francot."

"I know her from the neighborhood near here, I've known her ever since I moved into Densel Town. She's a very nice girl, very nice," Sakura explains with a worried expression. She looks down on the ground while holding her arm. "But she's also frail and many girls from her place picked on her. I usually came in and help her out. She... Always looked up to me and counted me to protect her."

"But one day, her parents decided to move out of town. Angel didn't want to move without me, but her parents insisted her. Ever since, I've never seen her again until now..."

"I'm... Sorry to hear that," Kyuu said sympathizing Sakura.

"So she's really a member of the Blood Vipers?" Kanon asks.  
"No," Sakura suddenly said as she turns her attention back to her friends, "Zangief and Rufus said that each Blood Viper has a red snake tattoo on their arms. When I saw Angel, she didn't have that."

"Oh, good... So she's not fully a pledge Blood Viper," Noel sighs in relief.  
"Yet," Kanon suddenly adds.

"If we don't do something, she will be one of them," Kanon speaks up in a monotone voice.

"We?" Sakura utters in surprise.

"Of course," Kanon said back in the same monotone voice.  
"Why not? You probably want to go out there and help her, right? After all, we have no missions right now," Kyuu adds. Dark Magician Girl, Kanata, Nina, Noel, and Kanon all nod simultaneously.

Sakura is quite surprised to see her friends resolve to get Angel out of the Blood Vipers before it's too late. No words can help her express how grateful is she. Kite pats her shoulder gently attracting her attention. He looks at her with a kind expression assuring her that everything is going to end well.

Dark Magician Girl suddenly turns her head around to Kyuu and asks, "So what to do first?"

"Yeah, we should go to town and ask the people about the Blood Vipers. If we know where they usually hang out, we might find them. And if we find them-"

"We'll find Angel!" Sakura shouts in cheers, cutting Kyuu short and finishing off his sentence.

**Street**

The Twilight Brigade return to the Center District.

As usual, the district is very crowded. Many adults walk around the district minding their own businesses. Aside the civilians, the Knights are patrolling all around town.

From there, they separate into three groups and investigate to places where the Blood Vipers usually hang out. One group consists of Kanon and Noel while the other consists of Kanata and Nina. The last one consists of Kyuu, Kite, Dark Magician Girl, and Sakura.

Kyuu's group goes to the neighborhood near their house, where Angel once lived.

They begin to ask the civilians around to if they know anything about Angel's return. Unfortunately, none of the civilians seem to know that the young girl has returned to town. In fact, there's not even a sign of her parents in any of the houses.

The group walks around the neighborhood looking in every house to see if it's true.

At the same time, Kanon and Noel search at the local restaurant.

According to the chef, the Blood Vipers usually eat in the restaurant at night, mostly at Fridays and Saturdays. The chef does know most of the Blood Vipers' names, especially their leader. His name is Rusty.

Kanon then asks the chef about Angel, able to describe the young girl's appearance from the information Sakura has told him. The chef doesn't know anything about a girl named Angel among the Blood Vipers. It's probably because Angel is quite new to the gang.

As for Kanata and Nina, they're at somewhere in the Resident District. Apparently, they heard from several civilians that the Blood Vipers cause a lot of ruckus lately. The brown-haired boy figures if they investigate there, they might find some clues to the gang's whereabouts.

They look around the district. To their dismay, they can't seem to find any clues the gang left behind. Talking to the civilians doesn't make any difference.

-/-

After nearly hours of searching the town, Sakura leads her group back to the same neighborhood from earlier.

"So this where you fought the Blood Vipers?" Dark Magician Girl asks once they're at the exact spot where Kite and Sakura rescued the victim from the gang. Kyuu immediately approaches it.

Kyuu has his eyes set on the ground looking for clues as he kneels down. However, there aren't anything down there.

"Now, can you remember exactly how things went?" Kyuu then asks as he stands up and turns his attention to Kite and Sakura, "Given the circumstances you were in?"

The .hack and Street Fighter characters recall their fight with the Blood Vipers in details. Among the events, the one that catches the detective boy's attention is the punk who's badly beaten by the gang. The young detective asks his friends about the 'victim,' but they don't know anything about him. By the time they scared off the Blood Vipers, the punk was already gone.

After taking note of the 'victim,' Kyuu stops and begins to think for more questions.

"When you scared them away, which way did they go?" Kyuu finally asks.

Now that's a bit difficult for Sakura to answer. She's far too distracted during that time because of Angel. Kite, on the other hand, still remembers. The boy in red points at the northern direction. As Kyuu turns at the north, he and his friends find a few houses and an alleyway to the right.

"We should check over there," Kyuu points at the alley.

As soon as Kyuu steps forward, Sakura suddenly rushes off to the alley. "Sakura, wait!" Kite immediately goes after her leaving both Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl behind.

Sakura reaches the alley in such a short time.  
Inside, there's nothing but broken bottles, a dumpster, and a few graffiti on the wall.

"Hellooo... Anybody here?" Sakura calls out cheerfully. Her voice echoes across the old alley, which scares a lot of mice out of hiding. Of course, it doesn't bother her that much.

She casually steps into the alley and looks around for clues. Not too far from the entryway, Sakura stops when she looks at a certain graffiti on the right. That's when Kite finally catches up with her.

"Sakura, you shouldn't go alone," Kite chides Sakura although she doesn't pay much to her friend.

The .hack protagonist gently pats her shoulder to get her attention but still no reaction from her. He soon decides to turn and look at the very thing she's looking.

Upon turning, he soon discovers the very thing that attracts her attention the most.

The graffiti is a large red snake covered in blood. That can only mean the graffiti is the work of the Blood Vipers. There's even a writing just slightly above the snake. It is written in the following...

'Blood Vipers are here'

There's something else that catch their attention. Beneath the snake is another writing.

'TYEWEDALLWO'  
'QTADARENMOP'  
'WEEANLXAELF'  
'RWRDTATEELS'  
'DDFEWAHELWA'

Sakura stares at the second writing with dotted eyes, clearly shows that she has no clue what it means.

Kite pays much more attention to the writing thinking that it's some sort of a code. While the boy in red tries to figure out the meaning behind it, Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl arrive at their spot.

Both the detective boy and the Duel Monster spirit look at the graffiti and the writings. Dark Magician Girl's eyes twitch, confused over the message on the wall. "What the hell's this?" Dark Magician Girl turns her attention to Kyuu, hoping he figures out something since he's a junior detective.

Like Kite, Kyuu looks closely at the message with a serious look on his face. He doesn't answer Dark Magician Girl's question since whenever he finds something unusual, his so-called 'detective instinct' takes over focusing on the subject. The subject is the second writing.

Nearly five seconds, the detective boy's expression change slowly into a smile.

"Figure something out?" Kite asks when he notices his friend's change of expression.

"Yup!" Kyuu said cheerfully, much to Dark Magician Girl's surprise.

"This is a cryptogram. Looks like the Blood Vipers know a bit about encryption," Kyuu adds, which only confuses Dark Magician Girl even more. She may know a lot about spells and magic artifacts, but not cryptogram or secret messages.

"So... How do you figure out the message here?" Dark Magician Girl asks in a quiet voice.

"For this one, we'll use the Route cipher," Kyuu answers.

"Root?" Sakura asks with a confused look, befuddled with the detective boy's answer. She gives some thoughts about it until she reaches the conclusion... Or so she thoughts. "Wait, what does a root have to do with this? Do we really have to pull it out from a tree?"

Dark Magician Girl slaps her hand flat across her forehead, finding the Street Fighter's answer to be silly. Kite, on the other hand, maintains his humble, kind self. He knows the reason Sakura making the funny answer since both words are almost pronounced the same. Although a large sweat drop appears on the back of the boy in red's head, feeling embarrassed by his friend's answer.

"Sakura..." Kite utters his friend's name, "He meant the r-o-u-t-e."

"Oh," Sakura chuckles nervously, "Sorry!"

"It's actually easy, guys. You just need to know where to look first," Kyuu approaches the wall and lays his finger on the letter 'M' in the upper right. "Follow here in a spiral course clockwise," Kyuu immediately curves his finger around the letters until he reaches the final letter. Doing so gives the following text:

'MEETATDREADARENA'

That's the code.

"Whoa, you figure that out in such a short time?" Sakura asks, impressed by Kyuu's deductive skills. The latter chuckles saying that it's actually easy once you know where to look at.

"Meet at Dread Arena?" Kite utters intrigued by the message.

"What's that?" Dark Magician Girl wonders pointing at the name 'Dread Arena.'

As the three characters try to figure out the name whether it's an event or a place, a Russian voice suddenly calls out behind them.

"That's an underground tournament, children. It's one of the most brutal, most devastating fighting tournament in Rakenzarn! Owned by Riko Carlonamus!"

The sudden voice surprises the four as they quickly turn around their back. It's only Zangief.

"Z-Zangief?" Kyuu utters in surprise. He clearly recognizes Zangief from the real world since the latter is quite famous in the world of video games.

"Ah, I see you told your friends about me," Zangief turns his attention to Sakura. Her only response is just smiling back at the Russian wrestler.

"Hey, Kyuu, you know this guy too?" Dark Magician Girl whispers at Kyuu's ear.  
"Yeah, he's like one of the famous video game characters back home," Kyuu whispers back.

"Excuse me, Zangief. Did you just say an underground tournament?" Kite asks the massive wrestler.

"Of course, little boy. Many rich folks go there. I have plans to enter the tournament myself! To show everyone my region's wrestling!" Zangief flexes his muscles while explaining to the four teens, "In battle, it's about strength and will power! I will prove it to them all!"

An underground tournament?  
Just by hearing that gives chills to the four teens, especially Dark Magician Girl. From that moment, they quickly realize that the Blood Vipers might be at the Dread Arena.

Suddenly, both Kyuu and Kite realize something. If the Blood Vipers are going to the Dread Zone, that might also means...

Kyuu and Kite look at each others with blank expressions. Looking at each other directly in the eyes, they both understand that they have the same thoughts. The two then their attentions to Sakura and said simultaneously, "We should join in too!"

Everyone around is quite shocked upon hearing it.

"Excuse me?" Sakura calls out raising an eyebrow.

"If those guys are going to that tournament, they might be planning to enter it," Kyuu explains to Sakura although the Street Fighter girl though she's still not understand. Only Dark Magician Girl knows exactly what Kyuu means.

"What if Angel decided to enter the tournament?" Kite suddenly asks, which helps Sakura to understand.

The boys quickly turn their attention to Zangief and asks him where the tournament is being held.

"You? All of you want to join Dread Arena?" Zangief asks in a slightly surprised tone.

"Well... Not all of us," Kyuu said shyly as he steps backward. Despite his training with his new friends and mass improvement, he's still not ready for an actual fight if it's a duel.

Zangief chuckles.

"I've seen you two fight," Zangief said at Kite and Sakura, "You've both got the drive, but you're too small to take seriously! Little boy and little girl are too early to join in. After all, it's far too dangerous to enter!"

"Rumors said that Dread Arena was very vicious that the losers were unfortunate. Some say their faces were ruined that nobody could recognize them. Some say they had broken bones. Some even say..." Zangief pauses for a while making it tense for the four teens. "They didn't come back... Alive..."

"So, little boys and little girls," Zangief crosses his enormous, muscular arms, "If you enter the tournament, who knows what sort of pain and torture awaits."

Dead silent takes over the atmosphere. Kyuu, Kite, Dark Magician Girl, and Sakura give a lot of thoughts about entering the Dread Arena...

"So who's up?" Kyuu suddenly speaks up. In response, both Kite and Sakura raise their hands cheerfully much to Zangief's surprise.

"Why not you, DMG?" Kyuu asks the young magician in a kind manner.  
"It's a fighting tournament, Kyuu, everyone has to use their fists, not magic. Not really my type," Dark Magician Girl answers back.

"It's okay. We could ask Kanon, Noel, and Kanata to join in," Kite adds.  
"Yeah!" Sakura shouts in high spirits, throwing her fist up in the air.

Zangief just watches the Twilight Brigade discussing about entering the mysterious Dread Arena, to which the wrestler drops a single sweat in the back of his head.

The four teens suddenly turn to Zangief.

"So where can we sign up?" Sakura asks.

"Uuuh... If you insist. You can find the arena by going to Sivurd Town. Look for a restaurant called 'Red Jewel' and tell the chef 'Next order, Extra Soup, No Spices.' But you have to wait until 5 o'clock when it's closing time. And you have to hurry and sign up before 6 o'clock," Zangief tells the Twilight Brigade.

"Red Jewel? Hey, I know that place," Kite suddenly said to his friends much to their surprise. That only makes it easier for them.

With the new information in their hands, the brigade moves out to regroup with the others.

"_I do hope they know what they are doing..."_ the Russian wrestler thought in his mind while watching the four leaves.

* * *

**Sivurd Town**

An hour later, the brigade arrives at the town's entrance.

The town appears to be less crowded than earlier. Apparently, most of the civilians are at work during this time of hour. Unlike Densel Town, the Knights are fewer in Sivurd.

The Twilight Brigade wastes no time when they get into town. Kite leads everyone throughout town to the restaurant, Red Jewel. The place is located in the eastern side of town. Its appearance and interior design is just like any other buildings around town. The only distinguishing feature is a large sign hanging above the entrance with the label 'Red Jewel' flashing red and white.

Once there, they immediately enter the restaurant.

Inside is quite different from the other restaurants they've ever been. The interior design is slightly bright and colorful, everything in the place is completely clean. Most of the seats are comfy sofas and the delicacies are really good, though the price can be quite expensive.

For the customers, there are quite many, but not to the extend that they crowded the entire restaurant. The customers seem to be enjoying their meals that they order seconds. From the looks of it, they appear to be quite rich.

The service is admirable. The staff members do their jobs very well, having serving their customers' food at the right time and cleaning up the restaurant spotless. Not only they can do their jobs well, but their attitude is good as well, which makes them likable to among the customers.

While the rest of the brigade look around the restaurant, Kyuu and Kite look at the time and notice that it's passed 5 o'clock. That's when the orders and take-outs have stopped. Some customers decide to leave the place.

Kyuu and Kite wait most of the customers have left until they decide to approach the counter.

The boys find a young, handsome waiter behind the counter. "Sorry boys, but it's closing time," the waiter humbly apologizes to the two, "Come back tomorrow."

"Next order, Extra Soup, No Spices."

The waiter pauses for a while once he hears those words coming from Kyuu and Kite.

"Aren't you boys a bit too young to enter a fight?" the waiter finally speaks by asking a question.

"Well, we may not look like it, but some of us are quite experienced in battle," Kite tells the staff member. The former motions his head backward prompting the latter to look at his friends in the back.

The waiter stares at the other members of the Twilight Brigade for a few second until he looks back at Kyuu and Kite. The very thing that catches his attention is the armband on each of the brigade.

"Okay, you ask for it," the waiter finally speaks up.

The staff member slowly picks up a Gothic-looking ticket from underneath the counter and hands it over to Kite. "Step right into the kitchen, show the ticket to the chef," the waiter motions his head to the right, pointing at a nearby door.

Kyuu and Kite turn around and call out for the others before they enter the kitchen.

Once inside, they show the ticket to the chef.  
In turn, the chef slides open a wall, revealing a hidden door. Beyond the door is a secret passage descending to the underground.

The brigade enters the secret passage, going down the passage until they reach a large door...

**Underground**

The Twilight Brigade finally arrives at the underground tournament.

Beyond the door is a large compartment. It has everything that most rich people like to visit. They have a luxurious hotel, a fine Casino, and even a strip club. However, the very place that has the brigade's attention is a large coliseum in the center.

"So this is the place?" Kyuu asks in awe as he stares blankly around the underground compartment.

"Well, Zangief told us it'd be here," Kanata said back.

Their thoughts are quickly proven true when they find a poster hanging on a wall nearby. It's actually an ad for the Dread Arena, with the traditional ring in the background and a couple of large, ferocious fighters cornering an unlucky skinny fighter. The Dread Zone's title is just below the ring. Another thing to note is a large man at the top of the poster, staring down at the fighters with a large grin.

The man in the poster has a Butch cut hair style with a thick mustache. His eyes are a little big with black colors.

"I'm surprised to see something this big underneath the restaurant," Kanon adds.

"Alright, everyone!" Sakura suddenly shouts out as she steps forward and turns around looking at her friends. She lifts up her fist up in the air. "Time to sign-up for the Dread Arena!"

"Sakura..." Kite utters the Street Fighter girl's name in embarrassment, her enthusiasm attracts unwanted attention from the people around them. Most of them just ignore the enthusiastic girl in disdain.

"Come on, let's just get to the arena and sign-up," Kanon said to the others in a monotone voice.

"What? A bunch of little brats wanting to join the Dread Arena? How laughable!"

A loud, brash voice shouts lashing at the Twilight Brigade.

The eight look at the source of the voice and find a man with a well-built body (completed with broad shoulders and muscular back) and has a red, oddly styled hair. He doesn't wear much outfit, only boxers and bandages on his arms and feet. The thing about him that creeps some of the eight teens is his smile. In fact, the man often smiles wherever he goes or when he does something. This particular man is named _**Adon**_.

"Do you seriously think you have what it takes to fight in a real battle? This isn't a game, this is real!" the man boasts out loud mocking the eight teens, "Give up this utter nonsense of yours while you still can! This place has no need for children like you!"

The man, Adon, turns around as he walks toward the coliseum with a wide grin on his face.

"What's his problem?" Noel wonders while watching the arrogant man leaves.

Aside the Blazblue character, Kite also watches the man leaves to the coliseum in the north. Just by looking at the man, the boy in red can see that the man doesn't look like a pushover and, to make it worse, sadistic in nature.

If there are more fighters like him the arena, then Sakura's friend is in big trouble.

Kite soon snaps back to reality when Sakura pats him playfully by his shoulder with a bright face. Seeing the upbeat girl's cheerful look actually calms him down a bit.

"Alright everyone," Kyuu then turns his attention to everyone in the Twilight Brigade, "We all know the plan, right?" In response, they nod.

Apparently, while on the way to Sivurd Town, the brigade had discussed about entering the underground tournament. In other words, which one of them should enter the fight. The good choices were Kite, Sakura, Kanata, Noel, and Kanon.

The boys and the Street Fighter girl are quite experienced if it comes to hand-to-hand combat.

The best among them is Kite once again, mostly due to his experience and his intelligence in battle. Kanon is supposedly the strongest among them in physical terms, but his recklessness and inability to analyze his situation make him a bit inferior when compare to Kite. Kanata isn't so special, he's somewhat the 'jack-of-all-trades' as he doesn't have any advantages or disadvantages over anyone. It's hard to tell if he can win or lose as a result.

Sakura fares much better than Kanata. In fact, she's almost in par with Kanon by a little. While Noel is a very skilled gunner, she's completely different in unarmed combat. Fortunately, her speed and agility make up for the changes.

With their unique skills and strengths, they have a strong chance to win the games and face each other in the finals.

"Alright, then let's go."

-/-

Inside the coliseum is surprisingly luxurious. Not exactly you'd expect in an underground. Well, mostly the lobby. In the most northern corner, you can find the counter where fighters register for the Dread Arena.

There are many fighters hanging around the lobby. The most notable of them is a man who's unbelievably tall, even taller than Zangief himself. The enormous giant wears a pink leopard skin tank-top with darker pink jeans, brown boots, and black studded wristbands. The giant also wears a thick chain from the back of his waist, to 3/4 of the way around his waist, ending at his hip. The man's face is odd looking with a long, messy, black hair that bounces around whenever he moves.

This giant is named _**Hugo**_.

Currently, Hugo is walking around aimlessly throughout the lobby. His intention is quite unclear.

The Twilight Brigade enters the lobby and make their way to the counter, ignoring the other fighters although Kyuu is quite intimidated by the giant.

Right after registering for the tournament, the man behind the counter tells the brigade that they're going to stay at the hotel. As long as they keep winning, they can stay in the luxurious place. If one of them loses, then he or she will be 'disqualified' and expelled.

The brigade also learns that a few important rules of the tournament:  
1. no weapons are allowed.  
2. no use of items.  
3. no use of magic, only skills.

Among the rules that make Sakura even more worried is only one... There's actually three ways to decide the winner in a fight: the fighter is able to force the opponent to surrender, knock the opponent out until the count of 10, or kill the opponent.

Dreadful thoughts of her friend, Angel, suffering in the tournament begin to cloud Sakura's mind.

Kyuu tries to ask the man what will happen to the losers, but the latter refuses to answer. The former then asks if the brigade can have a little peek with the other registered fighters, but the man behind the counter also refuses to show it to them. The man tells the detective boy to wait until six o'clock.

"Y'know, I have a very bad feeling about this," Nina utters in concerned.  
"Me too," Noel adds in agreement.

"Then we have to make sure we don't lose," Kanon suddenly said to the girls.  
"And let's hope Angel didn't enter this tournament," Sakura also adds in a more determined outlook.

Determined from before, the brigade sets outside of the coliseum.

Approximately five minutes later after the Twilight Brigade left the lobby, a tall muscular man in a black karate gi with crimson-colored armor on both his shoulders and his right arm, leaving his other arm exposed. His belt is tied like an obi-sash. Lastly, the back of his karate gi has a portrait of a tiger.

For the man's face, his eyes are unusually shut though he can still see. He also has black, ponytail sytled hair.

The man approaches man behind the counter.

"I'd like to sign in here!" The man demands.

"Okay, what is your name, sir?"

"Kintaro."

**Underground/Dread Arena**

_Few minutes later..._

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"

Deep in the coliseum is a large ring, one of those generic battlefields you'd usually see in most indoor tournaments or wrestling games. Above the ring is a large cage to seal off the ring, usually for special events.

Surrounding the ring is the audience's seats divided mostly into two, the low quarters and the high quarters. The former is for the more common people where they can enjoy the fights up close though very crowded. The latter is for the rich people where it's much more luxurious and they can enjoy the fights with first class drinks and delicacies.

Another thing about the Dread Arena is that the audience are allowed to put bets on the fighters.

Beneath the ring in the eastern corner is the referee/commentator's table.

"WELCOME TO THE DREAD ARENA! WHERE FIGHTERS FROM ACROSS THE REGION BATTLE FOR THEIR LIVES AND HAVE THEIR BONES CRACKING INTO PIECES!"

The referee, using a microphone, yells out in a loud, cheerful fashion echoing throughout the enormous arena. The referee is actually a young girl but her appearance shows that she's a humanoid fox or cat, shown by some unusual ears on her head. It's really hard to tell if she's a fox or a cat. She also has a short red hair and blue eyes.

"YOUR HOST FOR THIS YEAR'S TOURNAMENT," the referee suddenly stands up from her seat and throws her fist up in the air, "_**KOTO**_!"

"Brace yourselves, people! This year, we're having tons of fighters! Even more than last year!" The referee, Koto, points her index finger above the ring as a large holographic screen appears out of nowhere. You may refer it as a Holo-Screen.

The said screen shows a chart of arranged battles for each fighter. Familiar names are written in the list such as Zangief and Rufus. Of course, the important ones have to be the five members of the Twilight Brigade.

"Alright! Let the first round of Dread Arena... BEGIN!" Koto raises her voice even more as the audience goes wild.

Watching from the audience's low quarters are Kyuu, Dark Magician Girl, and Nina. The detective boy and the young witch look around the place in amazement, since this is their first time in a tournament. The three looks up to the chart and sees that the first match of the round is Zangief versus a punk named Rockster.

"Uh-oh," Dark Magician Girl suddenly utters attracting both Kyuu and Nina's attentions.

"What's wrong?  
"Look..."

The young magician points at the second match beneath Zangief's. Sakura's fear has come true... Angel is one of the contestants.

"Let's just hope Angel can handle her own," Kyuu said to the girls. The detective boy can only hope to watch the fight and formulate a few plans in case something unexpected happen.

It's not that long as the first match has begun.

Koto immediately speaks up as part of her job as a referee.

"All the way from the Veryl Region, even though he's trapped here with the rest of us, famously known as the Red Cyclone, here's ZANGIEF!"

The massive wrestler drops into the ring from above, literally out of nowhere. The crowd goes wild seeing the famous wrestler.

Zangief has his eyes close and his arms crossed until he finally opens his eyes. "I am the Red Cyclone!" The wrestler makes a pose and flexes his huge muscles, prompting his fans to cheer for him.

Now it's the infamous punk's turn...  
"From Densel Town, grown up from the slums, here's ROCKSTER!"

A punk with a black, messy hair enters the arena by dashing into the ring. The punk is about to be large as Zangief except for his muscles. They're not that muscular.

The punk, Rockster, throws his arms up in the air roaring. It prompts most of his fans to cheer for him as well.

"We have two extraordinary fighters line up!" Koto speaks again in a louder tone, "THIS IS GOING TO BE ONE HECK OF A SHOW! BEGIN!"

With the referee signals the start of the battle, the two fighters run toward each other.

The punk delivers the first few blows consist of jabs and a punch. Unfortunately, the said punk's attacks have no effect on the Russian wrestler. Proven that the latter feels no pain and unfazed from the attack. "You need bigger muscles, my friend!"

In retaliation, Zangief delivers a couple of powerful punches followed by a headbutt. The wrestler's attacks are incredibly strong that it stuns Rockster in an instant.

"Incredible!" Koto speaks up through her microphone.  
"Rockster's punches have NOTHING on the Red Cyclone! The Red Cyclone, on the other hand, brings the pain to a whole new level!"

Zangief then delivers a clothesline that knocks the Rockster down. It doesn't end there though. The Red Cyclone picks up the punk and executes his famous **Spinning Piledriver**, slamming the latter headfirst into the ground. The massive wrestler then let go of the punk.

As a result of the wrestling move, it leaves Rockster out-cold.

Koto soon begins her countdown prompting numerous fans to cheer for both Zangief and Rockster (yelling at their beloved punk to get up). However, the latter fighter remains unconscious until the count of 10.

"And the Rockster is down for the count! Zangief is the winner!" Koto shouts as hundreds of people in the low quarter cheer very loudly.

Zangief is rejoiced as he waves his large hand to the crowd before the enormous wrestler leaves the ring.

The fight leaves Kyuu and the girls in awe, seeing how powerful Zangief is in terms of physical combat. If Kite or Kanata face the Russian wrestler, they may be given a hard time.

However, their amazement immediately fades when Koto announces that it is Angel's turn.

"From the streets of Sivurd Town, this little lady makes her way to the top and join the infamous Blood Vipers! The female viper, Angel Francot!"

Angel finally shows in the flesh once she jumps into the ring. Her face is fueled with sheer determination intending to win the match.

"Also from Sivurd Town, this nobody shows up out of nowhere determined to be the best! MERK WILLER!"

A slightly large, naked man wearing nothing but red pants suddenly enter the arena. Not to mention, the man is bald.

"Heh," the man raises his arms revealing that he's wearing boxing gloves, "This is gonna be easy."

Angel isn't intimidated by the man at all as she still has her cocky smile. When the man goes into the standard offensive position for boxers, Sakura's 'friend' poses by slightly lifting her right leg with her left leg still on the ground.

Once Koto signals the match, the boxer runs toward Angel in an attempt to punch her. However, Angel executes a backflip jump evading the boxer's attack. While in midair, Angel suddenly moves toward the boxer and rapidly kicks him on the face. The girl then does another backflip jump distancing away from the stunned boxer.

Angel smiles again as she gives the boxer the 'middle finger,' further enrages the latter.

Merk Willer charges at Angel again.

As soon as the boxer gets very close to Angel and throws a punch, the latter easily evades the wild opponent and climbs on top of him. Angel immediately tackles the man into the ground. To make it worse for Merk Willer, Angel has her legs strapped around the man's neck. The boxer is clearly scared when he sees the girl's smile, to which he realizes that she threatens to snap his neck if he doesn't give up.

The boxer makes the right choice by yelling out, "I surrender!"

"And Merk Willer has surrendered!" Koto suddenly yells through her microphone as Angel let go of her opponent, "Now this is unexpected! The youngest of the Blood Vipers has won!"

Kyuu and the girls don't like the way Angel fights. In fact, the detective boy admits that it doesn't fit her name at all especially when Angel threatened to snap the boxer's neck, which would kill him if she did so.

"Okay... Now I'm starting to get really worried..." Dark Magician Girl utters in a more concerned look.

Kyuu nods in agreement.

-/-

The next match is now Sakura's. Her opponent is a obese man named 'The Shane,' who's unusually big and probably even taller than Zangief although not tall as Hugo.

Stepping into the arena is an excited Sakura, who's very fired up for the fight. The enormous fat man is standing right in front of her.

The fat man's is quite unusual for a fighter. He wears a typical yellow shirt, short pants, and a pair of sneakers.

"Hehe, so my first opponent is a little girl?" The Shane chuckles.

From that moment, Koto finally speaks up again for the audience.  
"Who's gonna win this next match?! Another sweet little girl or the so-called The Invincible Shane?!"

The referee signals the match once again.

"Haha, come here, little girl!" The large, obese man taunts Sakura into coming toward him and punching his giant belly. The Shane is actually proud of his obesity because most people's punches are always deflected due to his body's large amount of fats.

Sakura just smiles cheerfully as if it's nothing to her. The Street Fighter girl walks casually toward the fat man. In turn, The Shane doesn't attack her.

Rather attacking the gluttonous belly, Sakura kicks The Shane's legs tackling him down to the ground. Once The Shane is down, the Street Fighter immediately jumps forward and punches directly at her opponent's face. The impact actually hurts The Shane's body a bit but, most importantly, punching his face deals more damage.

It doesn't end with a single punch as Sakura decides to give MORE punches.

Sakura stops her assault once the large, obese man is knocked out.

"And the winner goes to Sakura!" Koto immediately declares the winner.

Sakura throws her fist up in the air victoriously as the crowd cheers in awe.

The next match is Kite. Contrast to his fellow brigade member, his first opponent is a young woman named Juliana. Like most adult women, she's quite tall. Her skin is tan colored while she has a brown, bobtail styled hair. Her choice of clothes is quite odd as she wears a green skin-tight leotard completed with long pants.

Despite dressing up in an odd leotard, the crowd (mainly the men) immediately cheers for her. The male audience even shouts at Kite begging to lose on purpose and let Juliana wins.

"Well, what do we have here? Looks like we have another kid in Dread Arena, this time a boy!" Koto gives her commentary from her seat, "Can this new fighter stand a chance against the beautiful Juliana?!"

Kite immediately prepares to defend. For him, it's always a good idea to defend yourself against new opponents, which helps him to give some time to analyze his opponent's movements and skills.

The young woman, Juliana, merely smiles at the boy in red. "Don't go easy on me all because I'm a woman, handsome," Juliana said as she positions her right leg backward while her left leg forward. Simultaneously, she positions her arms around. It's a similar stance to the Brazilian martial art, Capoeira, although there's a few differences in her move sets.

You know what the old saying, never underestimate your enemy whether they're men or women. Juliana is no exception. Kite can see that his opponent is an experienced fighter just by looking the way she poses her stance. Now the question... Is she tough as she looks?

Well, there's only one way to find out.

"Okay... If you say so," Kite utters feeling uneasy to fight a woman. The thing he can do is to try to make Juliana surrender.

"Who will stand victoriously in this fight?! BRACE YOURSELVES!"

With Koto gives the signal to start the match, both Kite and Juliana step forward by one.

Juliana moves in circle around Kite.  
The latter keeps his guard up whilst watching his opponent's every move. Sooner than he expects, the female fighter suddenly dashes forward seemingly wants to kick him, which he quickly tries to evade the attack. However, it's actually a feint. Once Kite moves backward, Juliana immediately drops on the ground and slides around in circle getting behind the former.

While on the floor, she wraps her legs around the boy in red's legs, slamming him back and forth for about three times. Afterwards, she let go both of Kite's legs as she stands up. The .hack hero also stands up despite the painful beating he gets.

As soon as Kite is back on is feet, Juliana moves in for the attack and delivers a variety of rapid kicks. Fortunately, the boy in red manages to block the kicks.

However, after throwing the last kick, she immediately grabs Kite's right arm. She then throws him aside though the boy in red manages to stand still. Juliana moves in again and delivers an attack using her elbow, directly at Kite's right side hurting him even more.

Kite scuffs off the pain as he throws a quick jab. Surprisingly, Juliana evades the boy in red by jumping backwards acrobatically.

The female fighter glances at the .hack boy with a cocky smile followed by a wink.

Both fighters pose into their respective stances. Kite, remaining on guard, walks slowly toward the female fighter. Juliana also does the same. Their eyes are set at each other. While Kite keeps his serious expression, Juliana still has her smile on her face. It's hard to tell if she's very confident that she's going to win or if she's having fun.

However, Kite still decides to have his guard up.

This is actually his first time fighting in unarmed combat. It feels very different without his weapons, especially that he's alone. A different kind of experience, actually.

As soon as they get close to one another, they both move around in circle while still facing each other.

Juliana suddenly executes a butterfly kick though Kite manages to dodge it. This time, it's not a feint. As soon as he evades, the .hack character moves in for the counterattack by delivering a kick of his own. However, the female fighter also evades by lowering her upper body in a matrix-like fashion. As as second counterattack, she quickly straightens her body back as she lowers herself beneath Kite's waist. She then throws palm strikes using both of her hands forcing Kite backwards followed by a roundhouse kick.

The impact sends Kite away from Juliana, leaving him battered.

This time, Kite decides to give a few attacks. Unfortunately, Juliana dodges most of her opponent's punches until she flips back down to the ground and wraps her legs around Kite's own legs. She then slams him into the ground.

Once the boy's pinned, Juliana immediately clings on Kite as she wraps her legs around the latter's legs while her arms hold both the boy's arms. The female competitor then pulls both the boy's arms and legs in a submission form attempting to force Kite to surrender.

"Looks like Ms. Juliana is giving Kite a hard time already! And he's down for the count!" Koto comments through her microphone as the male audiences cheer even louder.

Kite ignores the comments and the audiences as he's focused more on Juliana. Rather than giving in due to extreme pain, the boy decides to try to break free. In a surprising moment, Kite uses all his strengths showing his physical power is much stronger than Juliana. As a result, Kite eventually breaks free from her grasp as he jumps off from her arms.

The .hack boy's performance surprises the audience even Juliana herself. Not to mention, it leaves Koto speechless.

Kite gets up once again as he prepares for the next attack.

Juliana moves in again as she starts to move in circle around Kite.

All the sudden, the fighter dashes forward seemingly wants to kick Kite again. When Kite raises both his arms to block the kick, Juliana suddenly drops on the ground and tackles Kite's legs, dropping him on the ground.

While lying on the floor, Kite quickly realizes something. The way she makes the feint move is actually the same as the very first place. That can only mean one thing.

Once Kite gets up, he immediately looks at Juliana as the latter moves in for another attack. He decides to pay a much more close attention to see if his theory is actually right.

Juliana delivers another variety of rapid kicks. Kite blocks them as usual, but his eyes are set on her hips and shoulders at the same time. After Juliana delivers the last kick, she suddenly moves to the right side until she reaches behind the boy. She then throws a kick.

However, from the moment she delivers a kick, Kite suddenly turns around in such speed that nobody sees him move. The boy in red catches the woman's leg and flips her around, throwing her to the ground.

Now that surprises and impresses everyone in the audience.

Juliana wastes no time to get up as she moves toward Kite, deciding to give another feint move. When she attempts to deliver another kick, she quickly kneels down and attempts to deliver palm strikes using both of her hands on the boy's abdomen. Fortunately, Kite grabs both of Juliana's arms much to the latter's surprise.

"W-What?" Juliana utters in shock.

Kite then delivers the next attack.  
He performs a headbutt on the female fighter stunning her in an instant. He let go of her hands as she leans backward in pain. Juliana recovers fast from the attack.

The woman executes a butterfly kick though Kite dodges the attack. Afterwards, the .hack boy dashes toward his opponent attempting to throw a punch. Juliana also evades by lowering her upper body in a matrix-like fashion.

However, as soon as she does so, she doesn't see the boy's fist flying above her. She quickly straightens her body and notices that the boy in red is nowhere on sight. That is until she feels a presence just behind her.

Kite is actually standing behind Juliana his right hand already aimed at her back. It surprises the female fighter even more since she doesn't see him move, showing how fast Kite really is.

The boy in red punches the woman's back forcing her forward. He suddenly moves really fast getting in front of the female fighter, delivering double punches right on the face.

In pain and fazed, the woman leans backward. However, she's not giving up just yet.

However, as soon as she throws another kick, Kite immediately moves in front of her and catches her leg, flipping her down to the ground again.

The woman has a surprised expression written all over her face. She lays her eyes on Kite, standing and staring her back. For about a second, she slowly begins to smile at him.

"I... Surrender," she utters. Her tone is quite normal showing that she doesn't have a grudge on Kite. The fight is fair, she thought.

"Wow... I mean, WOW!" Koto suddenly speaks up, "Kite has turned the tables against Juliana with unbelievable speed!"

The speechless crowd soon begins to cheer for Kite, accepting the boy as the victor.

Kite chuckles nervously feeling quite awkward that the crowd is cheering for him. He waves his right hand at the audience.

Juliana suddenly stands up and approaches the boy, gaining the latter's attention.

"You know, kid. You're pretty good," Juliana said to Kite with a smile. She suddenly holds out her right hand asking the .hack boy to shake. "Your win. But the next time we meet, I won't hold back."

Kite also smiles as he gladly shakes her hand.

Watching from afar (deep in the coliseum is an exit for fighters only) is Sakura, who's really glad that her friend, Kite, has won his first match.

-/-

Sakura goes to the backstage of the coliseum.

She leans on the wall, waiting for Kite to return and gives him a positive compliment.

The Street Fighter is really impressed that the .hack boy's able to win in a hand-to-hand combat, especially the fact that it's his first time. She begins to wonder if it's because of his training with her. Now that she thinks about it, she has been sparring with the short boy a lot recently, more than the rest as a matter of fact.

Sakura suddenly shakes her head sideways. Now's not the time to think about it. The important thing she really needs to concern about is her friend, Angel.

"Sakura!" A familiar voice suddenly calls out the girl's name.

What a coincidence.  
The voice is actually belonged to Angel. The Street Fighter turns to her left and sees her ponytailed friend.

Even though she's surprised to see Sakura in the Dread Arena, Angel is actually happy to see her old friend again. The younger girl gives the Street Fighter girl a hug while shouting, "It's great to see you again!"

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down there! It's great to see you too," Sakura puts Angel down.

"But look how tall you are now!" Sakura begins to compare Angel's size with herself. Angel is a bit tall, but not as tall as Sakura. In the past, Angel was very small, but now she's all grown up.

Angel chuckles.

"Look, I'm sorry that you saw... Well, what happened earlier. You saw us beating up that guy, right?" Angel speaks up to Sakura. The Street Fighter is quiet as her usual cheerful face turns into a serious one.

"The thing is, the guy's been causing trouble with one of my friends. We hafta teach him some painful lessons for messing up with us," Angel explains to Sakura.

"Your... Friends?" Sakura asks while raising an eyebrow, "You mean the Blood Vipers?"

"Yeah! They're my family now!" Angel said cheerfully, "They brought me in and they taught me how to fight. Now I can fight just like you!"

"But... What're you doing here with... Your 'family?'" Sakura asks again.

"Actually, I'm not really a part of the family yet. They told me that I need to win this tournament, at least until the semi-finals. If I do that, I'll be a fully pledged Blood Viper!" Angel explains to Sakura in an enthusiastic manner.

"So tell me, what're you doing here?" Angel then asks the Street Fighter girl, "You here to test your super skills as usual?"

"No, I'm not..." Sakura suddenly said in a serious, concerned tone. Just by hearing her tone causes Angel to realize that something is wrong with her old friend, usually if it's something very serious.

"I'm here to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life," Sakura suddenly said much to Angel's surprise.

"Do you really think these guys are your 'family?' Beating someone who's already hurt? That could've killed him if my friend didn't intervene," Sakura said to Angel, "You have a real family at home. They're the ones you need, not some punks who do nothing but hurt people."

Angel is suddenly silence, clearly shocked to hear those words from her own friend. The very friend she used to trust.

The young girl suddenly glares at Sakura.

"What do you know about me?! Who asked you to tell me what do to?!" she snaps.

"I want to be part of the Blood Vipers, it's my decision! You can't tell me what to do! It's none of your business!"

"Until you stop harassing other people, even if they're good or bad, it is my business," Sakura said in the same monotone voice, sustaining her temper and remaining calm.

"Pfft, really?" the young girl begins to mock her own friend, "What about you? Why do you love to fight so much? You're a hypocrite, you know that."

"It's not!" Sakura suddenly raises her voice, silencing Angel.  
"I have my reason to fight. Fighting isn't about hurting people or being the victor. It's... It's all about having fun with your opponent and getting to know a lot of things from them. Only through that experience helps you to grow stronger and understand yourself."

Sakura pauses for a while.

"I met a really good friend who also loved to fight. He helped me to become who I am today. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have become stronger and met my new friends," Sakura takes a deep breath before continuing, "He told me this... 'The answer lies in the heart of battle.'"

Angel is silent.

"That is why I fight."

"You're still not a fully pledged Blood Viper... Not yet," Sakura pats both her hands on Angel's shoulders, "Why don't you quit when you still have the chance?"

A moment of silence takes over...

"..."

Unfortunately, Angel slaps Sakura's hands off her shoulders in a fit of rage. "You don't understand! You don't understand how it feels being bullied all the time! You don't understand how it feels being helpless!" she snaps again, only much worse.

"I couldn't help myself and my family weren't much of a big help! Ever since I left Densel Town, it... It became even worse for me. Everyone made fun outta me and my family weren't there to help me! Not Mom, not my big brother, not even my Dad! They were all so busy working to look after me!" Angel suddenly punches the wall in her right.

"But ever since I'm with the Blood Vipers, I'm much stronger! I can take care of myself! I'm much better than I was before! There's no way in hell I'm abandoning my 'REAL' family!"

"Angel..." Sakura utters her old friend's name in a quiet, saddened tone.

While both girls stare at each other, Kite eventually arrives on the scene completely unaware of his presence. The boy in red notices the tension between the girls.

"This is my final test! Later on, in the semi-finals... No!" Angel shakes her head violently sideways, "The finals! Even in the finals! I will pass my initiation and become a fully pledged Viper!"

"And there is no way," Angel lays her index finger on Sakura's chest, "I'm letting you stop me!"

Angel then runs away to the right direction, disappearing from Sakura's sight.

Even though it's only a glimpse, Sakura notices tears dropping from Angel's eyes when the latter turned and ran.

The Street Fighter stares blankly at the hall, speechless and saddened by Angel's violent reaction. Even though Sakura wants to help her out, Angel refuses to listen to her reason.

In a few moments, Sakura finally notices Kite's presence. The fight-loving girl turns her head around and looks at Kite directly in the eyes.

Just by looking at the boy's eyes, they tell her that the .hack boy has been there for quite a while. "I'm... Sorry it didn't turn out well with Angel," Kite said sympathizing Sakura.

-/-

Kite and Sakura sit down together, leaning against the wall of the backstage.

The boy in red happens to buy some drinks while on the way to find the Street Fighter girl. The former drinks a soda can while the latter drinks a carton of milk tea.

"So that was Angel?" Kite asks as he looks at Sakura. The latter doesn't look back at the former, she has her eyes set on the ground blankly while drinking her milk tea.

"Yeah... That was her," Sakura said in a monotone voice.

"She was a very nice girl. She's almost like a little sister to me. But the kids in her neighborhood weren't very nice to her, so they constantly picked on her," Sakura said to Kite as she slowly smiles, "Then I'd always come and rescue her. She always relied on me and talked to me every time we met."

"After a while, I thought I did a good job taking care of her. When she left town, I told her to be good and stand up for herself," Sakura pauses afterwards.

Sakura lowers her head.  
"Guess I didn't do a good job after all."

"Hey," Kite intervenes.  
"You did do a good job. Okay, you were not there for her when she left town, but you did good with what you did. Angel probably just lost the meaning of what you meant with that. And now you're here to help her. Isn't that something you would do for her? Would it be something she'd do for you?"

Hearing those kind words from Kite lifts Sakura's spirit. The latter slowly turns her head toward the former. All she finds is a kind, warm smile on his face, as if telling her that everything is going to be okay.

In turn, she smiles at him back.

"Thanks," Sakura utters in a quiet, yet joyful tone. "Yeah, I will help her. I sure will."

"Don't you mean 'we?'" Kite intervenes again, "You still have me, Kyuu, and the others, Sakura. You're not alone. As a brigade, we look after each other." Those very words coming from Kite relieve the upbeat girl.

"Oh Kite," Sakura playfully pinches Kite's left cheek, "You're so sweet!"

Kite yelps "Ouch!" repeatedly noting Sakura's unusual strength.

After giving Kite a little of her 'thanks,' Sakura decides that they should go back to the arena. Their other friends' match are probably starting right about now.

While they make their way through the backstage, Sakura decides to talk to Kite about his match.

"By the way, I saw your fight just now. You're pretty good!" the upbeat girl gives the boy in red a thumbs-up.

Kite chuckles feeling flattered as he said to Sakura, "It's nothing, really. It wasn't anything special. I mean, I was beaten up pretty badly. I should've noticed her tricks sooner."

"Tricks?"  
"The way she attacked me. She kept feinting to leave me open for an attack. I have to admit, that's a smart tactic... If she did it right."

"Really? Mind telling me?" Sakura asks, intrigued to hear it out from her friend.

"When she made a punch, I didn't pay attention to her fist... It's her shoulder."

The answer confuses Sakura a bit, twitching her left eyebrow.

"You see, the shoulder goes first then the elbow and, finally, the fist. If you look very close to the shoulder, you can determine how the attack will be. That's how I figure out her tricks," Kite explains to Sakura. He suddenly points his finger on his hips as he said to his friend, "That goes the same to her kicks, you look at the hips."

Sakura finally understands what Kite means. She gets even more interested with Kite in terms of his fighting style and his methods in battle. That's something she rarely sees with most people she met before.

"I also saw your fight," Kite suddenly speaks, "You did better than me."

"Aww, it was nothing!" Sakura said with a chuckle as she playfully slaps Kite by his back. Even though she means to show her enthusiasm, it still hurts. The boy in red sustains his usual calm, humble self though he tries to hide his painful reaction.

"But really, you're very smart not to attack that man head-on," Kite compliments Sakura.

"Well, yeah. I'm not that stupid," Sakura said back in a cheerful manner, "Seeing that big belly of his, I kinda knew it would absorb my punches. I focus on his weak spot and down he goes." Sakura gestures her hands making a motion of her first opponent falling down while explaining to her friend.

The two continues to talk sharing their experience of their first match. As a result, they also begin to understand and get to know with each other as friends, slowly developing a deep bond.

However, when they reach halfway to the ring, they stumble across an intersection where they find Kite's opponent, Juliana, on the left hallway. Something else that attract their attention... The woman is talking to a pair of men in black uniforms.

Kite and Sakura quickly hide behind the wall as they spy on them.

"Wait, I lost, remember? Whaddya mean I shouldn't go home yet?" Juliana asks the two men.

"Just follow us, Miss. It won't take long," one of the men said to her.

The female competitor pauses. "Okay," she finally said agreeing to come with them. They then exit the building through an exit just across the left hallway.

Who are those people, the two wonders.

Something tells them that they should follow them.

-/-

Back at the ring, the other three brigade members have just finished their matches.

Kanata's opponent was a slightly tall man who fought with boxing gloves. The fight wasn't much of a challenge as the brown-haired boy easily took his opponent down.

Noel's opponent was a young woman with a taekwondo fight style. The fight was slightly a challenge though Noel was able to take down her opponent with no problem. She mainly used defensive tactics to defeat her opponent.

Kanon's opponent was a large man who used wrestling moves. The fight was more intense than the other two as his opponent kept using grappling moves. Fortunately, Kanon was on defense all the time giving him the chance to counterattack the wrestler.

The trio's fights actually put the audience in awe.  
Apparently, over the history of the Dread Arena, the younger contenders weren't much of a challenge. Most of them were always eliminated from the game in the very first round. Either they're too weak to fight or plain lucky to move on to the next round. That's the very reason the entire people, even veteran fighters, are very surprised to see the members of the Twilight Brigade winning against other fighters.

The Twilight Brigade isn't the only 'young competitors' in the games. There are a few others.

Unfortunately, not many of them are so lucky... Especially the ones who fight some of the most fearsome fighters in the arena.

Adon and Hugo are in the tournament as well. The former brutally beats his opponent through a series of unpredictable attacks using Muay Thai moves. The latter is a force to be reckoned with as he takes out his opponent with a single punch.

One of the young fighters has been easily beaten by a mysterious young woman with very long purple hair and red eyes. The woman wears a long, dark purple coat with yellow/orange linings on the edge of her coat. The way she wears a coat is similar to a person uses a cape, slightly covering the rest of her clothes. She wears a blank, faceless mask to conceal her face.

The young woman moves very fast as she swiftly defeats her opponent.

A young man, probably in his early 20s and uses karate style, has been brutally beaten by a very muscular boxer with black skin (African-American to be precise). The man wears blue boxing trunks with white trim and a torn white shirt under a blue tank top. His boxing gloves are red colored. His hairstyle consists of short hair in what appears to be wide cornrows. The man is none other than _**Balrog**_.

The brute boxer knocks the young man out with a single punch.

Another young man has been soundly defeated by a mysterious man with long, blonde hair and a mask to hide his face. The man wears murrey and yellow ceremonial trousers, a red sash, loafers, and white leggings of a matador. The man has a purple snake tattoo on his chest, which also circles his arm. The man is none other than _**Vega**_.

After defeating his opponent, Vega removes his mask and bows at the audience, showing his surprisingly handsome face.

Lastly, a younger man (probably 19 years old) with long blue hair has suffered the worst as his opponent is much more fierce and sadistic than both Balrog and Vega combined.

The man has a very muscular body with a short, white hair. He doesn't wear any shirts, only a military-like trouser completed with back pockets. He also wears a pair of fingerless gloves. Another distinguishable feature about him is a scar across his right eye. The man is named _**Bryan Fury**_.

His cruel, sadistic nature is evident he pins down his already beaten opponent and starts to punch the latter rapidly.

In the audience, Kyuu and the girls watch the fight in horror to see the fight. The three of them can see the competitor suffers. His face is completely covered with bruises and his eyes are swollen. To make it worse, the sadistic fighter punches even harder causing the young competitor to bleed from his both his nose and his mouth.

Much to Dark Magician Girl's chagrin, the audience doesn't care if the fighter is hurt or not. Instead, they cheer for Bryan Fury to bring more pain. The ruthless doesn't care much from the crowd, all he cares is to make his opponent suffer even more just for his own amusement.

"This... This is just too cruel," Dark Magician Girl utters in disdain. Nina also agrees as the young witch can't help but feel sorry for the poor fighter. Deep in her heart, Nina begs everyone to stop the match before it gets worse.

Kyuu watches the match in contempt.

As the detective boy watches the one-sided fight, he soon notices someone in the crowd to his right: a black haired man with a small scar beneath his right eye.

Kyuu immediately recognizes the man as one of the missing people that he saw from the news article earlier. He notices that the man is wearing a fine, black, gentleman suit, completed with a black tie.

There's something else that catches his attention... He notices a man in a similar black suit standing next to the missing person.

The detective boy notices that the black haired man are walking around the crowd with the man in the gentleman suit by his side. The pair seems to be heading to the coliseum's main entrance.

Kyuu soon has his eyes set on the high quarter where the rich folks watch the fight from the balcony. He notices that some of the rich people have left. Something doesn't seem right, the detective boy thought to himself.

What our detective boy isn't aware is that someone is watching him from the audience. He is completely shrouded in shadow that you can't see his true appearance. The only feature that you can see is his visible mouth.

At the same time, Dark Magician Girl and Nina watch the fight until the sadistic Bryan Fury stops attacking the poor fighter, leaving the latter's face completely in ruin and his body broken.

Men in medical uniforms immediately come into the ring and take the injured fighter out of the coliseum.

"Folks, I guess you could say this year's tournament has been one hell of a roller coaster! I never woudl've guessed! We've seen new fighters lining up and beating up each other to the death!" the announcer, Koto, shouts through her microphone in her seat. The rest of the audience yells in unison.

"And now, our next and last match for the first round! All the way from the Veryl Region, the fighter who claims to have the 'Mojo,' the Charismatic Fighter... RUFUS!"

The obese fighter immediately steps into the ring.

"About my time! I have to see all many dudes duking out each other and I like, 'Wow, look at 'em go.' Now I really wanna show everyone my skills! I've practiced all day and all night until I'm improved! Yeah, that's what I do! And-"

"Ahem!" Koto interrupts, "From Sivurd Town, come from a rich family and train in the secret arts of karate for years, Frans Wow!"

A large, tan skinned, slightly muscular man with a shaven hair enters the arena. Rufus' first opponent wears a black karate gi.

"Really? Your name is Wow?" Rufus raises an eyebrow, "Can't your name be any more generic? Heck, even my ol' pal from middle school had a better name yours! It's like you're saying, 'Hey, I'm awesome! Be in awe with me!' From all the people I've met, you take the cake for the worst name ever! Well, compare to-"

Koto groans after hearing more of Rufus' ramblings.

"Let's just get this on..."

The announcer gives the signal.

The opponent, Frans Wow, steps forth intending to punch Rufus to silence the latter. However, the fat Street Fighter catches the fighter's fist and tosses him to the floor.

"Hey! No interrupting while I'm talking, man!"

Frans Wow quickly gets up and attacks again.

"Oh, you're asking for it, man!" Rufus snarls. The obese fighter shows his surprising agility by evading his opponent's attack and counter with a flying kick while yelling, "MESSIAH KICK!"

Most people in the crowd are completely surprised to see Rufus' fighting prowess that it even leaves Dark Magician Girl speechless. However, much to the young magician's chagrin, Rufus keeps talking while in the fight, mostly saying some words that don't even make sense or involve anything in the fight.

"Is it just me... Or is that guy really annoying?" Dark Magician Girl asks her friend, Nina.

"I don't think so," Nina said back. The heroine from Ultra Maniac doesn't seem to mind Rufus' ramblings. She is actually impressed by Rufus' unusual skills.

"Well, what do you think, Kyuu?" Dark Magician Girl turns her attention to the detective boy, but to her surprise, the boy is nowhere to be found.

"Kyuu?" Dark Magician Girl turns around looking at the crowd, but she can't find Kyuu anywhere. "Where... Where did he go?"

**Underground**

Thanks to the lessons about pursuing in silence from DDS in the real world, Kyuu is able to follow anyone without ever being noticed.

Kyuu tails the 'missing' man and his friend throughout the underground, outside of the coliseum.

Their trail leads the detective boy across the street where it's desolated, not many people in sight as most of them are in the Dread Arena.

"_Just where are you two going?"_ Kyuu wonders.

At the same time, Kite and Sakura are tailing the mysterious men and Juliana from the backdoor of the coliseum. Their trail leads the pair across another part of the street.

Even though the separate groups' trails are different, they eventually walk into the very same place... A casino...

_**To be continued...**_

**-XX-**

**A/N:  
**Like the previous chapter, this chapter will be divided into two chapters.

Despite Sakura's best effort, she wasn't able to convince her friend, Angel, to quit from the Blood Vipers and the deadly underground tournament.

Now what would happen next?  
Are these events in this chapter somehow connected to one another?

The question will be answered in the next part of the chapter.

As for the characters that appear in this chapter:  
- _**Angel**_, an old friend of Sakura. She's an OC of mine.  
- _**Zangief**_, a famous game character from the **Street Fighter** series.  
- _**Rufus**_, a large, obese character from the **Street Fighter** series, making his debut in **Street Fighter IV**.  
- _**Adon**_, an arrogant jerk whose fighting style is Muay Thai from the _**Street Fighter**_ series.  
- _**Hugo**_, a very VERY large man who makes his debut in the **Final Fight** series and, later, **Street Fighter**.  
- _**Balrog**_, also known as in the Japanese version, is an African-American boxer from the **Street Fighter** series.  
- _**Vega**_, also known as Balrog in the Japanese version, is another game character from the **Street Fighter** series.  
- _**Bryan Fury**_, a powerful, sadistic fighter from **Tekken**, making his debut in the third game of the series.  
- _**Koto**_, the cute, fox (or cat, I'm not sure) girl who's actually a demon from **Yu Yu Hakusho**.


	9. Chapter 5: Fallen Angel part 2

**DISCLAIMER:**I don't own some of the characters in the story. The characters that will appear in this fic are owned by their respective owners. There will also be OCs that are owned by their respective authors.

Special thanks to Kurush Wuzurg and Vastler75 for helping out to write this fic.

-/-

_Tragic..._

_Truth..._

**Rakenzarn Tales**

**-/-**

**-Cyril Region-  
Sivurd Town**

**Underground**

Kyuu tails the 'missing' man and his friend throughout the underground, outside of the coliseum.

Their trail leads the detective boy across the street where it's desolated, not many people in sight as most of them are in the Dread Arena.

"_Just where are you two going?"_ Kyuu wonders.

At the same time, Kite and Sakura are tailing the mysterious men and Juliana from the backdoor of the coliseum. Their trail leads the pair across another part of the street.

Even though the separate groups' trails are different, they eventually walk into the very same place... A casino...

-Chapter 5 part 2-  
Fallen Angel

The 'missing' man and his 'partner' enter the casino through the main entrance while the other men with Juliana enter through the backdoor.

Kite and Sakura follow the mysterious men through the backdoor.

Unfortunately, Kyuu doesn't fare as well as his two friends. Just after his targets have entered the casino, four more men in black suits with sunglasses step out of the main entrance acting as guards. Each guard is armed with a handgun hidden in their pockets.

Hiding behind the edge of an old building's wall, Kyuu watches the entrance.

The detective boy tries to figure out a way to get into the building.

-/-

Kite and Sakura quietly sneak through the hallway until they reach a door with the label 'NO ENTRY, PERSONNEL ONLY!" The door is guarded by two men in similar outfits.

The two fellow brigade members hide behind the edge of wall while watching the mysterious men taking Juliana beyond the door. _"Now why would they want to take her into a place like this?"_ Kite wonders as he sets his eyes on the door and then the guards. _"Guess we won't know 'til we get in there."_

Kite examines the hallway and the guards. From what he can see, the guards are heavily armed with guns in their pouches and knives beneath their shoes. Each guard has a portable radio transceiver hanging on their breast pockets. He should also note their muscular built.

As the boy in red thinks of a way to get in the door, Sakura reaches her head close to his ear.

"Hey, I think I got an idea," Sakura whispers in a cheerful tone. Kite glances at her on the eyes.

"What if we pretend to be in a date?"

* * *

_-Sakura's imagination-_

Kite and Sakura, dressed in a gentleman uniform and a pink dress respectively, approach the guards, alerting them.

"What do you two want?" one of the guards asks.

"Isn't it obvious? We're here for the party," Kite said with a smile.  
"We're very late, so we'll just be on our way," Sakura adds with a similar smile.

They both approach door and enter, passing by the rather confused guards. It doesn't take much long as the guards quickly snap back to reality. "Wait just a sec," they immediately grab them by their shoulders. "Aren't you two... Well, too young for this?"

Suddenly, Kite and Sakura turn around and execute their respective roundhouse kicks on the two guards directly at different sides of their faces, knocking them out in an instant.

"Good work," Sakura whispers cheerfully. She and her male partner quickly drag the guards away and lock them up in a closet.

_-End of Sakura's imagination-_

* * *

"And then we sneak in as a couple and see what's going on inside. Then we get out of the casino and tell the others what we just saw!" Sakura finishes her explanation and her imaginative fantasy.

"Yeah... About that..." Kite utters with his eyes closed and smiles while dropping a single sweat from the back of his head, "I don't think that's gonna work... At all..."

"Eh? Why?" Sakura asks with her eyes dotted, showing her oblivious nature.

"For starters, does that look like a place for a party?" Kite asks kindly as he turns his head at the door, which prompts Sakura to look back at the label on the door.

"Secondly, we're only going to alert more guards. See those?" Kite turns his head at the handheld radios on the guards' breast pockets. Suddenly, the boy in red and is partner can hear static voices coming from the radios.

"_Report!_" the voice in the radio calls out.

"Clear," one of the guards reply.

After seeing that, Sakura immediately realizes what Kite is trying to say to her.

"Ouukay, so what do we do now?" Sakura asks Kite in a more upbeat tone though quietly. Kite turns his attention back to the guards.

The boy in red soon hatches a plan to get in the door without fighting the guards. He quickly takes out some coins from his pocket, which are actually changes from buying the drinks earlier.

"This is a trick I've read from that spy novel," Kite whispers at Sakura as he picks up only two coins, "Hope this works."

Kite then tosses one coin passing the two guards. Once it lands somewhere in the hall, it makes the noise that attract the guards' attention.

"What was that?" one of the guards asks.  
"Dunno, wanna go check it out?" the other guard also asks.  
"Yeah, but I'll check it out. You just wait here," the first guard said to his comrade.

The guard then leaves his post to investigate the noise while the other guard stays in his position.

All the sudden, another coin is tossed past the guard. The same thing happens again as it attracts the second guard's attention. "What was that?" the guard walks toward the direction of the noise.

Once both guards are away, Kite and Sakura quickly sneak into the door.

"HEY, I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STAY PUT!" the guard's voice yells, echoing throughout the hall.

"Wow... That actually works," Sakura said in a relieved tone.  
"Yeah, I'm surprised myself," Kite adds.

"You should hang on to these," Kite gives Sakura half of the change.

The two of them soon notices that they're in a very small empty room. In front of the pair is a staircase.

-/-

Back outside, Kyuu continues to watch the main entrance.

As time flies by, a small crowd begins to arrive at the casino. The detective boy quickly recognizes the people as the rich folks from the coliseum.

"_What's... Going on in there?_" Kyuu wonders.

He soon notices that some of the rich folks are having a conversation with each other. The boy decides to move in closer and blends in with the crowd to eavesdropping their conversation.

From what he can gather, there seems to be a very special event held in the casino. It will start as soon as the tournament's first round is over. He also hears that there's a very special treatment for the fighters who had lost their very first matches.

Now Kyuu becomes more concerned and determines to get inside the casino as soon as possible.

At first, Kyuu thought that he should blend in with the rich folks. However, he quickly finds the idea to be bad when he finds that each customer has to show a special ticket to the guards before they can let them in.

Kyuu quickly moves away from the crowd and hides into an alley.

Without much choices, there's still one thing he can do.

Kyuu makes his way around and reaches the right side of the building while evading the patrolling guards. As he has hoped, he finds an air vent on the wall. The detective boy immediately removes the vent's grid and enters through.

However, the detective boy is completely unaware that the shadowy figure from the coliseum has followed him...

**Underground/Dread Arena**

At the ring, Rufus has successfully defeated his opponent, the lame Frans Wow.

Everyone in the audience seats is completely in awe. Even Rufus' victory leaves Dark Magician Girl speechless. The silent crowd soon begins to cheer loudly for Rufus.

"There! That'll teach you for interrupting someone when he's talking! What are ya? 6? Ya should've known that a real gentleman always let others finish what they're going to say and then-"

"And the winner is the fat wonder, Rufus!"  
Koto interrupts Rufus again as the crowd goes wild again.

"Well, that's the last match of the first round, folks! We'll be taking a 10-minute break!" Koto announces to the audience.

Now that the tournament is officially on break, Dark Magician Girl and Nina decide to go and look for Kyuu. They don't want their friend to miss the next match.

-/-

Kanata, Kanon, and Noel are at the fighters' quarters located in the backstage.

Surprisingly, the hosts have already set up the next fights on a roster hanging on the wall. The first matches aren't very important as the fighters are mostly 'normal' ones. Their concern is the second half of the fighters where they can see their names on it.

Much to Noel's surprise, her next opponent is none other than Kanon.

She slowly turns her attention to Kanon with a nervous look written all over her face. The latter doesn't look at the former, his attention is at the roster.

Kanata soon notices the worried expression on Noel's face.  
"What's wrong?" Kanata asks as he pats Noel's shoulder, which attracts her attention. "I-It's nothing," Noel quickly answers back.

In reality, Noel has faced Kanon several times in training sessions (both armed and unarmed combats) before. She actually lost to him. The problem isn't about the latter's strength or skills. He actually knows her very weakness.

She just hopes that he's not cruel enough to use her weakness to win the match.

"You sure about it?" Kanata asks raising an eyebrow.

Kanon still faces at the second round's roster. He's actually more concerned with some of the fighters in the tournament after catching a glimpse of their skills in their fights. He notes their skills and brutal tactics. The Umineko boy soon calls out his friends.

"We better look out for these guys," Kanon taps his right index finger on the following names.  
- Adon  
- Balrog  
- Vega  
- Hugo  
- Bryan Fury

"They're tough customers, they don't show any mercy to their opponents," Kanon then looks at Kanata, "You have to be careful, Kanata. Your next opponent is Adon."

At the roster, it shows that the first match in the second half is Kanon and Noel. The next one is Kanata against Adon.

Kanata has no reaction from the look of his blank face. However, he acknowledges Kanon's warning as he has seen Adon's fight in the first round. He gives the Umineko character a thumbs-up.

"But it's not just Kanata, we all have to be careful if we're going to face them," Kanon said to his two friends. Both Kanata and Noel nod in unison agreeing with their friend. Luckily, Angel is not going to face one of the said fighters, probably an ordinary fighter. If Sakura's friend is lucky, she should be fine.

Just to make the trio relieved, Angel's turn is the last one according to the roster.

"We'll just have to stay alive until Sakura gets Angel out of this mess," Kanata said to the two.

"Speaking of which," Kanata turns his head around the room, "Where's Kite and Sakura?"

"Now that you mention it... I haven't seen them around after Kite's match," Noel adds.

"They're probably looking for Angel, we shouldn't worry too much about them," Kanata said to Noel.

**Underground**

Kite and Sakura descend the staircases until they reach a poorly lit hallway beneath the Casino.

Even though it's not very bright, the pair can see the hallway just fine. They quietly walk toward the door. Kite and Sakura get to the right and left sides of the door respectively while crouching on the floor.

"Okay, take a quick look inside," Sakura whispers at Kite.  
The boy nods as he opens the door slowly. He only opens it by a little but big enough to see through.

Beyond the door is a rather large room filled with various fighters from the tournament. Kite quickly notices that the fighters are the ones who have lost the fights. He can also Juliana among them, who looks really confused about the place.

There is a huge glass in front of the 'losers' that shield the room. To his surprise, there's another ring beyond the glass.

Kite opens the door slightly wider so he can have a clear view of the area behind the glass. He sees many rich people gathering in the audience seats.

There are also guards in the crowd, approximately a total of fifty. Each is armed with a handgun.

At first, Kite doesn't know what's exactly going on until he spots a small group of people stepping into the ring. All of them are armed with different tools including whips, knives, shears, brass knuckles with spikes, a poker, and so much more.

The glass shield soon raises.  
Another group suddenly charges toward the defeated fighters and force them into the ring.

The two groups then force all the losers to kneel as a floating, circle-shaped platform descends from the ceiling. Standing on the platform is a familiar man in an expensive brown gentleman suit. The man has a Butch cut hair style and a thick mustache. His black-colored eyes are a little big.

"_Hey... That man..._" Kite recalls the time when the Twilight Brigade first entered the underground. He remembers that they had seen a poster for the Dread Arena. That's right, the man in the floating platform is the same person from the poster.

The man pulls out a small microphone from inside his vest and said, "Greetings, ladies and gentlemen! I'm sure you all know who I am, but for those who don't, I am your host and owner of Dread Zone, _**Riko Carlonamus**_."

"First of all, I'd like to thank you all for coming to the Dread Arena, especially for those who have attended this year's tournament from before. As you all know, we have a very special event for everyone in this room and for our dear fighters who have lost their very first fight."

The man, Riko Carlonamus, continues his speech to thank his viewers.

Sakura soon becomes more curious so she asks Kite to make way for her to see through the slightly closed door.

-/-

At the same time, Kyuu exits through another vent and reaches a certain room.

"Damn, I never knew it'd be this hard," Kyuu cleans up the dirt stained in his black sleeveless shirt and his trouser.

Afterwards, he looks around his surrounding and notices that he's in an office. The room is quite clean with numerous portraits on the wall and a fine desk in the front. It's not exactly he expects but it should do.

Kyuu moves toward the desk and opens a few drawers. Most of them are files on the tournament and money insurance. However, he soon finds an important file after opening the last drawer.

The file shows portfolio of various fighters from previous tournaments. The winners are circled in blue color while the losers are crossed in red color. Kyuu's eyes are suddenly widened with surprise when he recognizes the people on their respective portraits.

The 'losers' are actually the missing people that the detective boy saw from the news article earlier.

"Oh... Crap..." Kyuu utters when he deduces a few answers with most of them are bad news. That also means that Angel's life may be in grave danger.

Kyuu immediately cleans up the mess and grabs the files before he goes back to the vent.

-/-

At the secret underground ring, Riko eventually finishes his speech for his audience.

"Now then, ladies and gentlemen... Enjoy the show," Riko said as the platform ascends to the ceiling above.

The rich folks begin to smile as the armed group suddenly torture the defeated fighters.

Kite and Sakura remain in hiding as the two of them spy on the ring much to his horror. He can see the poor fighters being tortured alive as their tormentors whips their bodies.

The most gruesome one has to be guys with the shears as the they cut off the weakened fighters' fingers. What they do first is cut a finger from the victim and watch him or her scream in pain and squirming on the floor. The tormentors just wait and watch. Just when the victim thinks the pain is over, the tormentors take the opportunity to cut off the next finger until there are none left in his or her hands.

The pair can see Juliana among the defeated contestants. The woman suffers the worse as her tormentors, three women in red outfits resembling a dominatrix's clothing, render her naked and begins to torture her with whips. Not just one, but ten at once. Much to the boy's disgust, the rich folks are enjoying the so-called show.

To make it even worse, the crowd suddenly cries out to make it more extreme. Juliana's tormentors decide to appease their viewers by cutting all of the woman's fingers off.

Kite quickly deduces the tormentors' intention. "Those... That's it!" Kite finally snaps as he draws out his blades intending to jump out of hiding and rescue the tormented fighters. However, Sakura quickly holds him from his back.

"K-Kite, calm down!" Sakura whispers in a quick tone as she quickly pulls him away from the door.

The boy in red soon begins to calm down as the girl let go of him. "We can't take them all on by ourselves," the Street Fighter girl then closes the door quietly.

Soon, they can hear numerous screams coming through the door, including Juliana's. The voices beg their tormentors to stop, but said tormentors refuse to do so proven by the poor fighters' endless screams.

"You're right... I'm sorry, Sakura," the .hack boy apologetically said as he sheathes his blade, "But... To think there are people who are entertained by seeing people getting... Tortured..."

"Yeah, it's... Just so wrong," Sakura adds feeling the same as her friend.

A moment of silent takes over the grim atmosphere...

"We better tell this to the others. They have to know about this and-" Kite soon speaks up until he suddenly becomes silent. The reason? He quickly realizes that Angel is among the fighters in the tournament.

"Angel!" Kite calls out her name. Just by hearing her name also causes Sakura to realize that Angel is in grave danger as well.

Kite and Sakura immediately stare at each other for about a second. By looking at their eyes, they both understand that each of them has the same thought.

The pair quickly turns around and prepares to run back to the coliseum.

Unfortunately, as soon as they turn around, they find three guards approaching for the door. The guards have already drawn their guns pointing it at the pair. Each guard's feature is quite different with the only similar feature is their slick black hair. One guard is the smallest with very little muscles while one is a bit taller with a few muscles and a small scar on his forehead. The last guard is the tallest and the most muscular of them all.

The said guards prompt Kite and Sakura to raise their hands.

"You're not going anywhere," the short guard said to the pair.  
"Damn, we got another snooper 'round here, let alone two of 'em," the guard with the scar adds in a monotone voice.

"Another?" Kite utters as he slowly moves his feet slightly, preparing to strike the guards with his speed.

"Well, yeah," the tall guard casually said in a normal tone as if it's nothing bad happen, "We have this one reporter kid who's been snooping the boss' tournament. We caught 'im and throw 'im with the rest of the losers. Boy, they sure tore him apart before they put 'im out of his misery."

A lightning bolt effect shoot behind each of the pair, signifying their shock and the impact of what they have just realized upon hearing the last words from the muscular guard.

"YOU IDIOT!" both guards glare at the muscular guard, "You're not supposed to tell that!"

"Why not? It's not like they're going to be around for a long time," the muscular guard said in a casual manner, "Why not just break their legs and throw 'em in with the rest of the losers?"

As the two guards hear what their ally says, Kite looks up the ceiling. Said ceiling appears to be metallic and a bit rusty as if it can fall at any moment.

Kite soon notices the ceiling above the guards begins to move.

Suddenly, part of the ceiling breaks down and crashes directly on the guards below. The impact also renders two of the guards unconscious save for the large guard.

Kite and Sakura soon notice that there's someone lying on top of the guards and the debris of the ceiling.

"K-Kyuu?"

"Oww..." Kyuu utters painfully as he slowly stands up, "I knew I should've taken the left turn..."

The large guard groans in pain. He is about to stand up as well but Kite suddenly appears above the guard and stomps his foot on the guard's head, knocking him out in an instant.

The detective boy immediately notices Kite and Sakura.

"Oh? What're you two doing here?" Kyuu asks them in an oblivious manner with his eyes dotted.

"I could've asked you the same thing!" Sakura also asks in a cheerful manner and her eyes dotted as well.

"It doesn't matter, we gotta get out of here!" Kite quickly grabs both Kyuu and Sakura's hands as they ascend the staircases.

What awaits upstairs isn't exactly the trio expects.  
The guards that are standing outside the door are completely knocked out. Each guard has numerous bruises all over his body.

Kite turns his attention to Kyuu and asks, "Did you do this?"

Kyuu shakes his head sideways as an answer.

-/-

The main entrance is quiet now that the folks are inside.

A pair of men in black suits stands together at the door, guarding it. Soon, four more identical guards show up from the other sectors of the Casino and join with the said pair.

"Anything?" one of the pair asks the four.  
"Nope. Clear," one of the four answers.

From that very moment, the shadowy figure drops on the ground from above, which surprises the guards. Said guards have a clear view on the figure revealing to be a man in a hood. They can't see his face clearly due to the hood, but they can see his eyes... They're glowing blue and red.

"W-Who're you?!" the guards cry as they draw out their pistols, aiming at the hooded man.

The hooded man doesn't answer them. Instead, he answers by conjures a mysterious weapon in his hand and charges forth...

Few seconds later, Kyuu, Kite, and Sakura arrive outside only to see the guards lying around the entrance. Like the previous guards inside, they're no difference.

"Whoa, here too?" Kyuu said in awe as he gets dragged away by Sakura.

They run as far as they can from the Casino, though they're unaware that the hooded figure is watching them from atop of a building nearby...

**Underground/Dread Arena**

The next round has finally started.

Before the fights can begin, the tournament's host, Riko Carlonamus, in his hovering platform greets the audience with a similar speech from the casino's.

Afterwards, the fights begin as the host's platform ascends to the ceiling. Surprisingly, the fights are rather quick as they're mostly curb-stomping battles. It won't take long until it reaches the second half.

Dark Magician Girl and Nina have just arrived at the lobby. They're still looking for Kyuu. The pair has already searched the audience seats and they can't find him anywhere.

"Where the heck is he? Kanata and Noel's match are going to start soon," Dark Magician Girl utters as she approaches the counter. She asks the man in the counter about a 'boy with weird black, white-ish hair' though the latter answers by shaking his head sideways.

"Maybe he went to the restroom," Nina said to the young magician.  
"Well, if he was, he would've been back with us fifteen minutes ago," the magician said back.

Dark Magician Girl sighs.

She decides to go back to the main ring thinking that Kyuu should be back right about now.

Before she can do so, Nina soon calls her by her name because the young witch has something she likes to ask.

"DMG, you've been really close with Kyuu lately. Is there something between you two?"

Dark Magician Girl falls silent after hearing Nina's question. She slightly lowers her head as she begins to recall her time with Kyuu, ranging from her first meeting with him to their conflict in their first assignment. Ever since then, they've become close friends although they argue at times.

The blonde-haired magician has no idea what to answer Nina. Her cheeks slowly turn red.

She remains silent.

Nina soon notices the look on the magician's face, which quickly gives her answer.

"There you are, you two!"  
The girls look to their right and find Kyuu approaching.

"Oh, there he is!" Nina said in a perky manner.  
Dark Magician Girl suddenly makes her way to Kyuu and she slaps him by his face, much to Nina's surprise. The boy yelps "Ouch!" as a result.

"H-Hey, what did I do?!" Kyuu asks angrily at Dark Magician Girl.  
"You shouldn't have gone away without telling me," the latter answers back with a disgruntled groan.

"Look, DMG, now's not the time for arguing!" Kyuu said angrily though in a softer tone. He throws his hands and pats on Dark Magician Girl's shoulders. "Right now, we gotta get back to the hotel and find Angel! This tournament isn't safe for anyone."

Both girls are a little shocked to hear what the boy just said.

"I'll explain later," Kyuu grabs both the magician and the witch's hands pulling them toward the stadium's entrance, "We gotta get to the hotel now."

While the detective boy takes the girls toward the exit, the tall muscular man in the black karate gi from before unexpectedly enters the lobby from the main ring.

The man with the shut eyes notices the trio heading toward the main entrance, but his main focus is the DDS boy, Kyuu. He is suddenly surprised to see the boy as he utters the boy's name.

Eventually, Kyuu and the girls have left the building while the muscular man is left standing there.

-/-

Kanon and Noel are standing in front of the opened doorway to the ring. Behind them is Kanata, who's leaning on the wall. Their match is about to start as soon as the announcer calls forth either of their names.

Noel glances at Kanon with a blank expression. In actuality, she's a bit nervous to fight him again. That soon attracts the latter's attention as he looks back at her.

"Let me guess... You're afraid that I'd be using 'that' against you," Kanon said flatly with a blank expression. Noel is quite shocked to hear what the very quiet boy just said. She manages to stay calm while paying attention to her fellow brigade member.

"Relax, I'm not going use THAT this time," Kanon immediately said which relieves the young gunner.

Suddenly, they can hear the announcer's voice yelling out from beyond the opened entrance.

"Ladies and gentlemen, The way he fights is disturbingly brutal! The Fearsome Slaughterer, Kanon!"

Soon, they can hear hundreds of people cheering and crying out for Kanon.

"Well, see you in the ring," Kanon said to Noel. The latter nods with a bright look on her face, having find a new will to fight at her full potential. Kanata just smiles and said to the pair, "Break a leg."

The grey-haired boy starts walking toward the doorway.

However, as soon as he takes a step forward, Sakura suddenly appears behind Kanon. The upbeat Street Fighter then yells "STOP!" in a comical way that surprises Noel and Kanon. Kanata, on the other hand, is not though he raises his eyebrows in the ensuing yell.

Sakura's yell actually echoes throughout the stadium that even the entire audience can hear. In a strange twist, they just shrug it off.

Kanon then turns around and faces Sakura with a blank expression. He also finds Kite approaching from the hallway.

"Y'know, you could've scared everyone in the planet half to death if you'd raised your voice a little higher," Kanata said flatly with a straight face.

"But seriously, stop competing the tournament. It's really messed up!" Sakura said to the trio with a serious look. The tone in her voice is much more aggressive, yet calm showing her strong determination.

"Sakura's right,you really don't want to lose in this tournament," Kite adds.

"We'll explain back at the hotel, we need to regroup with Kyuu and the others!" Kite said to the trio before he turns his attention to Sakura, "I'll leave Angel to you. I really hope she listens."

Sakura nods as she gives the boy in red a thumbs-up. The Street Fighter girl then runs off leaving Kite and the others to leave the stadium.

-/-

Everyone in the main arena is waiting eagerly for Kanon's entrance.

However, the boy from the visual novel series has not shown up from the backstage for four minutes. Everything is dead silent.

Koto the announcer chuckles nervously.

"M-Maybe he's out looking for some snacks and got late," Koto said in a nervous tone accompanied with raspy slur. The audience isn't exactly happy about it.

"Well then, how about we introduce to his opponent! The agile... The lovely, cute fighter, Noel Vermillion!" Koto throws her arm up in the air and then at the ring. However, like Kanon, Noel doesn't show up in the ring.

It soon becomes clear that none of the two fighters are going to enter ring as minutes have passed.

"Oookay... Looks like our two fighters aren't going to show up, so nobody wins this match," Koto said through her microphone, much to the audience's dismay.

"Well now, let's move on to the rest of our fighters!" Koto raises her arm again to the ring, "The ferocious fighter who cannot be touched, the god of Muay Thai, Adon!"

The fighter jumps into the ring from out of nowhere, presumably from the audience. The man, Adon, raises his arms up the air as the crowd cheers for him.

"And his opponent, the young fighter! The handsome-faced pretty boy himself, Kanata Saionji!" Koto yells loudly as she directs her hand to the ring. Soon, the crowd goes wild but mostly young ladies cheering for him. Yup, the 'pretty boy' of the brigade has already made a name for the women.

Unfortunately, the result is the same as Kanon's and Noel's, the boy from the romantic comedy series doesn't show up.

That puts the audience, especially the young women who want to see Kanata, quite in a distraught position.

Everyone is quite unhappy when many minutes have passed much to Koto's dismay.

"Looks like he's not coming either... Well, I guess that makes Adon the winner," Koto announces nervously.

The crowd becomes enraged and disappointed that none of the three young fighters are competing though most of them figure that they've chickened out. They even begin to think that the reason they've passed the first round is beginners' luck.

Adon boasts out of laughter.  
"Hah, wise decision, indeed! Run away, boy! There is no way you can defeat me with that feeble body of yours! You can't even touch me!" Adon then turns around with a large grin on his face. The fighter walks away.

Among the crowd are a small group of men in black gentlemen suits.

Since the three young contestants technically lose the tournament, it means one thing for each of them. However, the other guards soon arrive and report that the trio is missing.

They all agree to report this to their boss.

-/-

Sakura has searched every inch of the stadium, including outside the Dread Arena. She can't seem to find Angel anywhere.

The upbeat girl gets to the back of the stadium since it's the only place she hasn't looked. Unfortunately, she can't find Angel anywhere, which only causes her to panic. She frantically calls out for Angel but to no avail.

She turns around quickly intending to go back inside the stadium. However, she changes her mind when she begins to hear the door nearby open followed by the sound of numerous footsteps. She quickly leans herself to the wall as the member of the Twilight Brigade walks slowly toward the wall's edge.

Peaking at the other side, she finds the men in black suits roaming around the perimeter. Sakura interprets it as trouble especially if they see her, deducing that they're probably looking for her and her friends.

She quickly hides and picks up some of the coins she got from Kite. The Street Fighter girl then tosses the coin passing the men in black suits. Once it lands and makes the noise, it attracts the black-suited men's attention.

"Men, check that out now!" one of them shouts as they go and investigate the sound. With the henchmen distracted, Sakura makes her escape back to the hotel.

-/-

Meanwhile...

Riko Carlonamus is watching the fights from his private chamber, located just above the high quarters.

His audience chamber is clean from the rest, which makes it look more of a VIP lounge. He has his own table, his own servants, and some harems to entertain him if he gets bored.

He's currently on his table, having ordered a sirloin steak and a glass wine.

The owner also has his own bodyguards. Two men are standing outside the entrance while two are inside with their boss. They all look very identical with their muscle builds, their sunglasses, and their bald heads. The only difference is their mustaches. One doesn't have a mustache, one has a Chevron mustache, one has handlebar mustache, and the last has horseshoe mustache.

The next match is between Bryan Fury and another unlucky fighter. The fight is very brutal as the former attacks his opponent aggressively, leaving the latter no chance to counter. Everyone can see that Bryan Fury is enjoying it from his gleeful expression as if he's wanting more and more of it.

Even when the opponent is down, Bryan Fury doesn't let up. He continues to attack the already beaten contestant.

Riko Carlonamus enjoys the show while eating his meal.

"Looks at him," Riko has his eyes set on Bryan Fury, "Now that is the true spirit of a warrior. Merciless and brutal. There's no doubt this man will be the winner of the Dread Arena."

"Just watch, ladies," the cruel owner slaps one of them by her bottom, "I know he'll win." The ladies just chuckle out of flattery, even for the one who just has her bottom slapped.

Riko turns his attention back to the ring.  
The aggressive fighter has enough as he walks away from the injured fighter. The medic team quickly moves in and takes the loser away, which is actually taking him to the Casino.

Suddenly, one of the guards burst into the room and approaches Riko.

"Boss! W-We have a problem!" the guard said in an exhausted tone. The words attract the guard's boss. "Five of the fighters have disappeared. They're not competing for the tournament anymore."

"What?" the boss asks in a surprised tone.

"Reports said that two of them were spotted at the Casino," the guard continues.

Riko pauses for a moment.

"Then alert the everyone in the perimeter, make sure no one leaves this place. Find them and take them to the Casino immediately," the boss finally speaks up to his henchman.

The man in black suit nods before he makes his way to the door.

As soon as he reaches his hand for the doorknob, Riko calls him again. "Oh, and one last thing. Tell 'em that I'd like to make a few changes."

**Underground**

Words soon spread across the underground in a matter of seconds.

Guards are all over the street and most of the entrances in different buildings are heavily guarded, specifically the casino and the stadium.

One by one, Riko's henchmen search the entire place for the Twilight Brigade. Fortunately, they're unable to find them throughout the underground. They even search the hotel where the fighters are supposedly staying, but they can't find any of the five teens in there.

They aren't going to give up just yet as they continue to search around.

In actuality, the Twilight Brigade is still at the hotel. They set up a secret meeting ground in a room marked 'maintenance.' The space is quite tight with a few boxes around and tools.

Not many people would bother to check the maintenance twice as they'd take it as a place where technicians and janitors keep their equipment. From inside, Kyuu opens the door slowly by a bit, checking outside the hallway to make sure that none of the guards are around.

"Is everyone present?" Kyuu asks afterwards.

The others call out their names, confirming that everyone is together.

"Kyuu... Why here?" Dark Magician Girl suddenly asks. She doesn't exactly feel comfortable with their 'secret hideout' in a maintenance room.

"Oh, don't worry 'bout that. This would be the last place they'd look," Kyuu said cheerfully waving his right hand up and down at the young magician much to the latter's dismay.

"But any luck with Angel?" Kyuu then asks Sakura.  
"Sorry, I couldn't find her..." Sakura sighs.

"I see. Sorry to hear that," Kyuu turns to the rest of the brigade, "But there's no denying that this 'tournament' is not humane at all."

"I've... never thought there are people that cruel. Cruel enough to watch people suffered," Nina utters in a disbelieved tone.

"Don't worry, Nina," Kanata pats the young witch by her head, "We'll put these guys on bars once we tell the others at the guild."

"No, that's definitely not a good idea," Kyuu suddenly speaks up, "Angel is still in the tournament. It'll take hours to tell everyone at the guild and get back here. We can't risk Angel's safety with those fighters in the ring. We need to a plan to take care of these guys and save all the fighters, including Angel."

Everyone becomes silent as they try to figure out a solution to the crisis and quick. They don't have much time.

"Wait a sec," Kite quickly speaks up when he hatches an idea, "What if we bring the Knights' attention here?"

Everyone immediately has their eyes at Kite. His idea is actually a pretty good one, something they can all agree. Even though there are fewer Knights in Sivurd Town, they're still many enough to intimidate the bad guys in the underground. Not to mention, they have the habit for calling other Knights from other towns.

It takes a few minutes for Kyuu and Kite to come up with a good plan to pull this one out although it's going to be quite difficult. They'd like to name it, 'Operation: Dread Crush.'

They're going to need to divide into three teams.

The first team will have to go to the restaurant, Red Jewel, and cause some sort of a commotion. That way, they'll be able to attract the Knights' attention.

The second team needs to go to the ring and slow down the tournament to prevent the next match from ending. That way, they can stop any of the defeated contestants from being taken to the Casino for that horrible 'show.'

The third team will go to the Casino to find and rescue any of the victims if they're alive.

Kyuu has already decided which members should be assigned to each team.

The 'Commotion' team will consist of Dark Magician Girl, Nina, and Noel.

For the 'Fight' team, it will be Kite, Sakura, and Kanon.

Lastly, Kyuu and Kanata are going to be the 'Sneak' team.

Before they start the operation, Kyuu asks everyone if they still have their communication earpiece. Thankfully, they still have it.

"Alright, does everyone understand their roles?" Kyuu asks everyone. They all said simultaneously, "Understood!"

The detective boy smiles as he throws his fist up in the air, "Then let Operation: Dread Crush begin!"

Unbeknown to the Twilight Brigade, the mysterious, tall man with slant eyes leans on the wall, overhearing the brigade's conversation.

* * *

The operation starts at the entrance to the Red Jewel.  
The main door is guarded by three men. Each is armed with an AK-47.

The streets in front of the entrance is desolated, no one at sight. At certain occasions, a guard or two may pass by since they're searching for the members of the Twilight Brigade.

It has been nearly fifteen minutes since their initial assignment. Suddenly, they begin to smell something. It's not a good smell, but the other way around. Something smells like a burning plastic.

Alerted by the smell, the guards turn their heads around looking for the source. They finally notice some smokes from three different locations from their positions.

Now even more alarmed, the guards are pressured into investigating the smokes but their job is to guard the door out of the underground at all cost.

Eventually, the guards give in. They separate to investigate the smokes.

With the guards out of sight, three of the Twilight Brigade (Dark Magician Girl, Nina, and Noel) emerge from their hiding spots that are conveniently close to the entrance. They waste no time dawdling around as they enter through the door and make their way back to Red Jewel.

-/-

After ascending through the stairs, the girls are now standing at the door leading directly to the restaurant.

Noel is the only one who's unarmed with her guns sheathed in her belt while the other two girls are armed with their respective staff and wand.

"Heh, alright girls," Dark Magician Girl smirks, "Look tough, get angry, and act like delinquents. Stick to the plan until we attract the Knights' attention. Got it?"

"Well, yeah... It's just..." Noel shyly touches her own forefingers' tips together in front of her chest, twiddling them up and down. From the sound of her voice, she's painfully shy. "I... I'm not sure if I can do this. How do you usually get angry?" Noel asks.

The Blazblue girl isn't alone though, Nina also feels the same way.

"C'mon, it's not that hard. Just look angry, that's all," Dark Magician Girl reassures her two friends, "Look, our goal is attract the Knights' attention, and we'll do whatever it takes."

With that said, the girls enter through the door into Red Jewel's kitchen. The girls ignore the chef in the kitchen as they make their way back to the restaurant.

Unlike before, the restaurant has a bit more customers around. Most of them are workers and punks. There are fewer women to note.

The girls are standing in the middle of the restaurant with Dark Magician Girl in between Nina and Noel respectively. Of course, the Ultra Maniac and the Blazblue gals aren't exactly looking forward for the mission except for the magician.

The young magician takes a deep breath and speaks up in a louder voice. "Alright, listen up, you meatheads! Time to clear out! From now on, this restaurant is the Twilight Brigade turf!" Dark Magician Girl motions her finger down pointing at the floor while she speaks to the crowd.

Her voice and words have attracted almost everyone in the restaurant, including the tough guys and the waiter behind the counter.

It doesn't take long as three punks approach the girls. "Heh, tough talk from a little girl," the punk's leader talks back to the girls, "But we're in a very good mood t'day, so if you just shut up and act nice, we'll let you go free."

Nina gulps seeing the punks' faces while holding her magic staff tighter. Noel remains calm as her right hand is slowly reaching out for her guns in her belt, ready for the worst.

"Oh, I don't think so," Dark Magician Girl smiles. She quietly chants a magic word, which causes her wand to shine. A tornado emerges from the ground circling around the magician and her friends. In turn, it slightly forces the punks away from the girls, surprising the said punks and the other customers in the restaurant.

Once the tornado clears, they quickly find Noel holding her guns.

"L-LOOK OUT! THAT KID'S GOT GUNS!" one of the local workers cry out in surprise.

The young gunner begins to open fire in the building, mainly at the walls and ceiling to intimidate the customers, which it works.

Some of the punks try to stop Noel by throwing some stuff at her, such as tables and chairs. Fortunately, the gunner sees them coming so she guns the furniture down. There are even punks who have guns of their own, they intend to gun her down. Thankfully, Noel is a very skilled gunslinger as she's able to shoot them by their guns, knocking it away from their hands.

Standing behind Noel is Nina. The latter uses her white magic to support the former's bullets, mainly using her **Oblique** spell to curve the bullets and track targets. In addition, Nina has cast a barrier around them just in case.

At the same time, Dark Magician Girl is causing her own mayhem. She casts blizzard spell, summoning snows above some customers and burying them with it.

Dark Magician Girl chuckles. "Hey, this is actually fun!" she said cheerfully as she turns around to the other girls, "How are you holding up?"

"J-Just fine," Nina said nervously. She feels very awkward for bullying the local customers. Noel shares the same feeling.

The mayhem continues.  
Eventually, one of the customers run out of the restaurant looking for help.

**Underground/Dread Arena**

While the next match has just begun, not too many have been taken to the Casino just yet. Both Kite and Sakura's matches have already passed so they too are disqualified from the tournament.

Street Fighter boxer, Balrog, is up next with his opponent a woman.

The woman has bright, red, long hair with a redhead band. She wears an ornate tight jacket as her top with a detailed piece going around her neck and black panties with a detailed red belt over them. On her arms, there are armguards high up on her said arms with feathers protruding from them. She also has a thigh-length tattoo on her right leg. Lastly, she wears sandals as her footwear.

Both fighters are in position, ready to fight against each other. The woman smiles while glancing at her opponent. She appears to be trying to read the wild boxer's movement and behavior. Balrog, on the other hand, isn't so glad to see his opponent. He cringes just by looking at the woman's exposed belly.

While Balrog is known to be a ruthless, sadistic fighter, he's not really keen in fighting women, let alone a beautiful. Although there's one woman he personally makes it an exception.

"_You gotta be kidding here. My next fight's a half-naked chick?_" Balrog thought.

"Okay, look here!" Balrog shouts while pointing his right fist (wearing a boxing glove) at the woman, "I ain't goin' easy on ya just because you're a woman! You better not cry when I win this match."

"Oh, really?" the woman smiles, "Then you don't mind me if I smug the floor with your face?"

Balrog twitches his right eye. "That's it!"

The fierce boxer charges at the woman and throws a punch. The woman steps sideways to the right evading Balrog's punch and counters with her own punch, directly on his right side of his face. Her strength is quite fierce, evident when the impact leaves a large bruise on Balrog's cheek. Unfortunately, the boxer is unfazed.

Balrog throws his own sets of punches, which consists of straight punches and swing blows. His strength is very similar to the woman, but like Balrog himself, the woman is unfazed.

The fight continues as both fighters deliver different blows with none of them slowing down.

The crowd watches the fight intently, feeling the tension between the two fighters. Even the announcer/referee, Koto, is impressed.

Just before Koto can give her comment on the fight with her microphone, someone suddenly snatches it away from her hand. "Alright, everybody! Listen up" the stealer shouts through the microphone.

Everyone, including Balrog and the woman, is attracted to the loud voice. They all look at the referee's seat. The loud voice is actually belonged to Sakura who's standing right next to Koto. Kite and Kanon are standing behind the Street Fighter girl.

"There's gonna be a lot of changes right now! From now on, it's not gonna be one-on-one matches! We're going to..." Sakura suddenly throws the mike up in the air as she jumps on the table. Once she's standing on top of the table, she raises her right arm and catches the mike. "Have," she speaks through the microphone again, "A Battle Royale! The three of us against you lots!"

Everyone stares blankly at Sakura while Kite chuckles nervously. Kanon just stands there being quiet.

"Sakura..." Kite utters her name.

"W-What? Wait a sec," Koto moves closer to Sakura, "This ain't in the schedule! What're you all doing? I can lose my job, y'know!"

"Hey," Kanon suddenly appears next to Koto much to the latter's surprise. He whispers at her cat-like (or fox-like) ear, "Just play along, people's lives are at stake here."

Of course, the upbeat girl's intentional attention also attracts some of the guards. They instantly recognize the three Twilight Brigades as the missing fighters. To note, it's also attract other fighters who have won and haven't entered the fight yet. Among the fighters are Bryan Fury, Adon, Vega, and Hugo. The mysterious fighter, Kyuba, is among them as well.

"Is this some kind of a shitty joke?!" Balrog suddenly shouts as he steps forward while glaring at Sakura and her friends. The woman has her eyes on the kids with a rather confused look. "You're telling me that you brats drop out from the fight and now you're here just to pick another fight?!" Balrog shouts again in disdain.

"Well... Kinda," Sakura shrugs with a big smile.

Now that alone puts Balrog in a dumbfounded silence. "You kidding me?!"

"Look, kid, the grown-ups are having their own matches, so why don't you go back playing with your toys or something?" Balrog mocks the teens in disdain.

"Hmph, typical barbarian," Kanon suddenly speaks up with his arms folded and his eyes closed, "Just as they say, the more the dog barks, it clearly shows it's not so tough."

Balrog turns his attention to the Umineko boy who's standing next to Koto, who's quite confused and nervous with the current situation they're in.

The boxer raises an eyebrow not understanding what Kanon meant. He soon turns his attention to his opponent and asks, to which the woman drops a large sweat on her head's back while keeping a straight face. "The kid means that you're an idiot and a weakling," she said out flat.

"WHAT?!" Balrog snaps with a ferocious tone and a vengeful look on his face. The boxer quickly jumps down from the ring and approaches the referee's seat, mainly his target Kanon. "You mocking me, kid?! Why don't you say that right in my face?!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, perhaps that was too childish," Kanon said out flat with a straight face, "What about... The louder they are, the dumber they are?"

Balrog twitches his eyes with a frustrated look.

"And I have to note your muscles. I admire that you have huge muscles. How much steroids did you use per day?" Kanon asks with his face remains calm as he steps forward from the seat. Although his snarky comments do enrage the Street Fighter boxer.

"That's it, you're dead!" Balrog charges intending to throw a series of punches at Kanon. The latter turns his attention to Koto and tilts his head sideways prompting her to hide for cover before he runs straight at Balrog.

Balrog throws the first variety of his signature punches, though Kanon evades every single punch. When the boxer throws his best punch, the Umineko boy ducks and counters with a couple of punches right on the face. The boy's strength is surprisingly strong as it manages to hurt even Balrog.

Still unfazed, Balrog steps up and throws another punch. This time, it hits Kanon on the face.

The Umineko boy manages to keep his stance despite suffering a hit from Balrog's punch. "Take this!" Balrog executes a simple, yet effective, dash punch. Kanon evades once again as he steps forward at his opponent. The boy throws his own punch directly at Balrog's abdomen.

Kanon steps backward after the attack. He raises his right arm directing at Balrog, motioning his index finger to prompt the fierce boxer into coming forth and attack.

Balrog charges again. As soon as the Street Fighter character gets close and throws another dash punch, Kanon steps to the right and marches forth, evading Balrog's punch again. In the resulting action, Kanon executes a roundhouse kick sending Balrog forward.

Kite suddenly appears in front of Balrog and delivers a hook kick right on the face. The impact sends Balrog away toward Kanon, who in turn, executes three painful punches. The resulting attacks are enough to stun Balrog.

Kite and Kanon then grab both Balrog's arms and toss him away toward the crowd. "Next," both boys said simultaneously.

The crowd is completely surprised seeing the boys have soundly defeated the fierce boxer that even some of the toughest fighters are surprised. From this point, everyone in the stadium knows how tough Balrog is.

It doesn't take long as some of the normal weaker fighters step in to fight Kite and Kanon. Just as they charge forth at the boys, Sakura suddenly jumps from the referee's table and lands in front of the two boys. "It works," she whispers at her friends.

Once the fighters get close to the trio, they begin to lay the smack down at them. With Kite's stunning speed, Sakura's upbeat skills, and Kanon's brutal strength, they easily beat most of the fighters.

The woman with the bright, red, long hair and redhead band watches the fight closely. She notes the three teens' skills and the number of opponents they defeat. It is evident that the teens are skilled and they have potential. The woman smiles whilst watching.

Instead of fighting like the most of the fighters in the stadium, she withdraws from the ring and moves backward, disappearing into the large crowd.

Like the woman, the mysterious fighter 'Kyuba' is impressed with the Twilight Brigade members' fighting prowess. She decides not to join the fight and, instead, to watch to see how things unfold.

The guards decide apprehend the entire fighters, including our protagonists, for violation of the tournament's rules. However, a mysterious figure appears in front of them, the very same figure that attacked the other guards in the Casino earlier.

The mysterious figure suddenly disappears right in the guards' very eyes until it appears behind them. Before the guards can react or move, they suddenly feel unbearable pain all over their bodies. They eventually drop on the ground fainted.

With the guards out, the unknown figure turns its attention to members of the Twilight Brigade.

The fight is quite tense, yet exciting with Kite and his friends giving the fighters some painful beatdown. Their fight encourages the other contestants to join in trying to take down the teens together although they still get beaten.

Among the fighters watching the unexpected battle are Zangief and Rufus. Just by their befuddled expressions, they're clearly confused with the teens' sudden return and their request for a battle royale. After seeing numerous fighters surrounding the Twilight Brigade members and the latter defeating them, Zangief thinks that their intention is to make the tournament more interesting. Of course, wouldn't that technically contradict the tournament's rule?

"What do you think, comrade?" Zangief turns at Rufus for answers.

"Ya wanna what I think? I tell ya what I think. I think it's a good idea! We all needed something fresh and new for once, it's gonna get old real fast if it's too repetitive. Glad to see someone has a taste in this kind of thing. They actually have their own mojo, y'know what I'm saying? Give 'em some credits for creativity, that's for sure," Rufus tells Zangief.

"I see, then there's no need to worry," Zangief said in a more confident tone as he stretches his muscles, "Let us go!"

Zangief suddenly lunges forth toward the three Twilight Brigade members. His main focus is none other than the .hack protagonist, Kite. Said character is taking down several fighters with a variety of lightning kicks.

As soon as Zangief is about to grapple Kite, Sakura suddenly clings onto his huge body from the back. The Russian wrestler immediately struggles attempting to shake Sakura off his back. Fortunately, Sakura holds her arms around Zangief much tighter.

"Zangief, wait! This is an emergency, you gotta listen to me!" Sakura yells at Zangief's ear. "What?" Zangief immediately stops as he turns his head glancing at the upbeat girl. The muscular wrestler demands a clear answer.

"Long story short, this tournament ISN'T normal! If someone loses, they'll be taken away, tortured, and executed!" Sakura explains in a quick tone. Thankfully, Zangief's ears are sharp enough to understand every single word from her. The Street Fighter wrestler is quite surprised.

"W-What? What are you saying?" Zangief asks again hoping for a more in-depth explanation. Coincidentally, Rufus passes by intending to attack Kite when he hears what Sakura just said.

Sakura quickly jumps down from Zangief's back."You hear me, whoever lost this tournament will end up dead!" she yells at him. Upon hearing it, Rufus is shocked to think a tournament that cruel does exist.

Zangief and Rufus stare at each other, both are shocked hearing the truth behind the Dread Arena. "Wait a sec, how do I know that you're not lying?" Rufus suddenly asks. "Well, have you ever seen any of the guys who lost in the first round?" Sakura asks the obese fighter back. This time, it puts Rufus in a dead silence.

"Now that you mention it..." Zangief utters.

Meanwhile, Balrog has just stood up from the ground, surrounded by the slightly surprised audience. "D-Dammit!" Balrog snarls as he sets his eyes on both Kite and Kanon, "Those little brats think they can make fun outta me?! BIG MISTAKE!"

Balrog rushes forward at the boys. Of course, it doesn't work exactly as he thought. Kite and Kanon catch both the boxer's fists with the former steps sideways and twisting Balrog's arm followed by the latter punching directly on the foe's stomach and face simultaneously.

The boxer paces backward feeling much pain until he glares at them back. Enraged, Balrog comes again and throws another punch. Kite and Kanon actually use the brute's rage and strength to their advantage, evidence by them dodging the boxer's wild punches and it attacks the other fighters as well. Balrog isn't too smart since he doesn't realize that the teens are using him to take out some of the fighters. It only takes a few minutes and beating down more than 25 fighters for Balrog to realize it.

Balrog regains his drive and focuses on directing his punches on the boys. Fortunately, Kite and Kanon grapple the boxer again ending with Kanon throwing a hard punch sending Balrog flying away. Said boxer crashes on the ground again.

When Balrog gets up again, he sees a beautiful red rose tossed passing by him. He turns around and sees the narcissistic Vega approaching without his mask.

"You... You are simply the worst sort of brute," Vega utters to Balrog as he puts on his mask. Said Street Fighter suddenly puts on a gauntlet armed with three sharp claws. "To think a bunch of children with skills actually exist," he said as he glances at Kite and Kanon fighting against numerous contestants. He chuckles a bit. "This should be interesting."

Vega charges forth leaving Balrog behind. Just before the latter can join in, a fighter passes by the boxer heading toward Kite. Another fighter passes by the boxer soon after.

After Kanon takes out one fighter, a rose is suddenly tossed pass by him. "What?" Kanon utters in confusion as he turns around at the direction where the rose is tossed. He soon finds the disturbingly handsome Street Fighter character dashes toward him. Vega leaps into the air and rolls into a ball. Fortunately, Kanon's reflex allows him to block Vega's claw with his bare hands.

"Well... Aren't you quite lovely. Beautiful," Vega utters, which actually disturbs Kanon. The boy cringes and shudders as he quickly slides backward.

"What are you? Gay?" Kanon said out flatly.

"Oh, you'll be seeing red by the time I'm done with you..." Vega said after giving a bow to his opponent.

"I take that back," Kanon adds almost immediately before Vega attacks the Umineko boy.

Kite soon notices his friend is in danger and tries to help Kanon. Unfortunately, someone grabs the boy in red by his back collar and tosses him aside. Kite quickly gets up and sees Bryan Fury. "Are you ready to die painfully?" Bryan asks with a sadistic smile on his face. Just by looking at Bryan's face makes Kite to realize that he's in deep trouble.

To make it worse, he soon finds the huge man, Hugo, is coming too. Now he has two dangerous guys to deal with.

Fortunately, Zangief shows up in front of the enormous fighter while shouting, "Bodies of iron!"

"I'm overflowing with charisma!" Rufus also shows up by spinning in and gets in front of Zangief.

"Setting hearts ablaze! The Space Cyclones!" both fighters yell out whilst doing their respective poses much to everyone's confusion.

Even Kite is confused to see their rather weird pose, something out of a tokusatsu show. However, he's glad seeing that they're technically helping him out. Now he has to focus on Bryan Fury.

The Tekken fighter steps in first. He delivers a single punch followed by a series of roundhouse kicks. Kite manages to block them all. He moves in for the counterattack by delivering a series of punches. Unfortunately, his punches aren't strong enough to hurt Bryan but it hurts his fists. It's as if his body is made out of steel. That goes the same for his kick.

Bryan then delivers his own counterattack. The first thing he does is punching him twice and then executes an uppercut on the boy's chin, knocking the latter down to the ground.

Knocked down, Kite struggles to get up. Unfortunately, Bryan lunges at Kite and punches the latter directly on the face. The crazed fighter immediately throws rapid punches on the .hack boy.

Before it can get even worse, Sakura suddenly steps in and executes a dropkick on Bryan's face. The impact sends the crazed Tekken fighter away, but his brute strength allows him to retain his stance.

"S-Sakura!" Kite calls out his friend in relief. The upbeat girl helps Kite up while smiling at him. The pair nods at each other as Sakura goes into her offensive stance while Kite withdraws his two blades.

Bryan isn't impressed so far but he's still going to crush them anyway.

Kanon has a bit trouble facing Vega because of his clawed gauntlet. The Spanish matador is surprisingly agile and fast; combined with his weapon makes him a deadly foe. After he sees Kite using his blades, he decides to do the same.

Kanon slides backward away from Vega. "You ask for it," Kanon said as he pulls out his sword, Zweihänder, and directs it at Vega. The other fighters are suddenly creep out to see the large blade in Kanon's hand. Vega isn't exactly impressed as he merely utters, "Hmph."

"Do you really think a savage weapon like that can hurt me," Vega taunts the Umineko boy. He gestures his unarmed hand prompting Kanon to attack. "You're way out of your depth, foolish boy."

Kanon and Vega then fight.

**Underground**

The Casino is much more heavily guarded than ever.

Numerous guards are stationed the interior and exterior of the Casino. Unlike the other places, the guards arm with other weapons than an AK-47, such as a shotgun. There are also countless snipers stationed in rooftops of the buildings in front of the Casino.

Not only that, the backdoor and the ventilation that Kite and Kyuu have used respectively are now heavily guarded. It's impossible to go through them again without alerting the guards.

Fortunately, Kyuu and Kanata are able to sneak into the Casino. The boys use an alternative route, the sewer, to get into the ventilation system of said Casino.

The boys walk across the dark, dense sewer passage. Luckily, they bring their own flashlights lighten the passage. Like your everyday sewer, the waters are filthy and rats hide within the shadows. The smell itself is filthy that by inhaling it makes you feel sick.

Not many guards are stationed in the sewer, so it's easy for the boys to get into the Casino. Though Kanata has to ask... Why is the sewer not guarded well?

"Glad you ask!" Kyuu said cheerfully to Kanata, "I've overheard this from some of the guards earlier in the Casino. They were talking about rumor of a monster sighting somewhere in this sewer for about a decade. They said the monster was so terrifying that the staff workers didn't even dare step here, especially when they found one of their co-workers' mutilated body in the waters."

Kanata stares at Kyuu with a shocked look while they both walk to their destination.

"You've... Heard of a monster in the sewer and you didn't bother telling any of us about this?" Kanata asks. The detective boy just smiles as if it's not that bad. In return, Kanata pinches Kyuu by his ear.

"YEOWH! OKAY, OKAY, I'M SORRY!" Kyuu yelps. Kanata, retaining his usual calm looks, lets go of the former's ear.

"But really, it's just a rumor. It doesn't mean it's real," Kyuu said while rubbing his ear in pain.

"You could've at least warned us about that rumor," Kanata said back, keeping his calm look.

Eventually, they reach their destination. Above the pair is a sewer pipe that leads them to the Casino's ventilation system. Without wasting any more time, Kanata lifts Kyuu up to the pipe before he gets in himself.

However, the pair is unaware that the tall man with slant eyes has been following them...

-/-

The pair manages to make their way through the ventilation system until they reach a small vent. It leads to a tight hallway in the first floor.

Kyuu and Kanata open the vent quietly as they enter the hallway. They soon discover that they're not alone when they hear voices and footsteps coming from behind a wall in the east side of their position. Both boys nod at each other as they sneak their way toward the wall. They lean against the wall before the edge.

From the sound of the voices, it appears that the guards are assembling the defeated fighters before they take them in to the underground.

Kanata pats Kyuu by his shoulder, signaling the latter to peek behind the wall's edge. Kyuu nods.

The detective boy leans toward the edge until he has a clear view on the other parts of the hallway. When he does, he finds something that really surprises him. He quickly moves away from it and looks back at Kanata. The brown-haired boy immediately notices the shocked look on the detective boy's face.

"What's wrong?" Kanata asks quietly.  
"We have a big problem..." Kyuu utters back as he gestures his thumb pointing it at the wall's edge, which prompts Kanata to look at it by himself.

**Underground/Dread Arena**

Meanwhile, the fights at the ring have become more tensed.

Kite and Sakura have trouble facing Bryan Fury. Even with the former's blades, it can't seem to penetrate through their opponent's body.

Sakura's fists and techniques have the same result.

The boy in red delivers a few kicks from different directions followed by a vertical slash with his blade. Unfortunately, Bryan holds the hero's blade. It's not holding the tip of the blade, the Tekken character is literally holding the sharp blade without showing a sign of pain. Kite quickly let go of his blade while still holding his other blade before he leaps away from Bryan Fury. In retaliation, the fierce contestant tosses the blade directly at the .hack boy.

Just as Kite lands as far away from Bryan Fury as possible, his own blade is already closing in on him. Fortunately, Sakura moves in and grabs the blade by its hilt. She smiles at him as she tosses the blade back to him.

"Stupid-ass kids! Do you really think you'd be able to beat me?" Bryan Fury snarls at the pair with a psychotic grin.

Both Kite and Sakura stare at each other for almost a second until they smile at each other with a nod.

Sakura grabs Kite and swings him around in circle; for every swing it gets even faster. Once it becomes fast enough, Sakura tosses Kite toward Bryan Fury. The Tekken fighter easily dodges the ballistic attack. As soon as Kite reaches the wall, the young boy immediately steps on said wall and launches himself toward Bryan Fury.

The fierce fighter immediately notices the boy in ballistic form behind. His first intention is to evade again but because he doesn't expect the ballistic attack, he doesn't have time to do so. Not to mention, Kite's fast speed makes it even more difficult.

Bryan Fury manages to block Kite's attack with the latter lands his feet on the former's muscular arm. Fortunately, it's actually part of the plan by having Bryan Fury distracted. Sakura takes the opportunity to attack the distracted Bryan.

The Tekken fighter swings his arm around tossing the .hack protagonist away though the latter jumps away in time. Bryan immediately turns around and throws a punch, but Sakura evades in time and executes her signature jumping uppercut. The impact is actually strong enough to send Bryan flying into the air. Now that their opponent is in midair, Kite (who's also in the air and much higher than Bryan) storms in like a speeding bullet whilst spreading his blades in a cross fashion. The boy immediately spins forming a tornado as he smashes the fearsome fighter into the ground below.

Kite quickly jumps backward and rejoins with Sakura. Thankfully, their teamwork pays off as Sakura's strength and Kite's slashing move hurt Bryan Fury. It also puts the entire audience in awe.

The fearsome fighter soon rises from the ground and glances at the pair. His psychotic look is still intact as if he's asking for more pain.

Bryan Fury charges at the pair again.

At the same time, Kanon is able to fend off against Vega's agility and speed. The Umineko boy blocks most of the matador's attacks with his blade.

Vega rolls into a ball and launches himself in a series of forward tumbles, with his claw extended out toward Kanon. The latter manages to block the claw in time, but the former jumps and gets behind the latter. Vega immediately grabs Kanon and throws him up in midair, intending to smash Kanon to the ground. Fortunately, by the time Vega holds out his arms on Kanon's body, the grey-haired boy moves backward and forces himself to the ground, smashing the Spanish matador in the process.

Kanon quickly gets up and moves away from Vega as the latter does the same.

Just as Kanon gestures his other hand to prompt Vega to attack again, someone suddenly appears behind the former and kicks him on the back. The impact sends Kanon toward Vega. Luckily, the brigade member manages to withstand the kick as he stops midway.

The Umineko boy turns around and finds his attacker... Adon.

"So you think you can just come back and make a name for yourself?" Adon asks loudly in a boastful manner, "Hahaha! What utter foolish and naïve!"

"You..." Vega directs his clawed gauntlet at Adon, "Stay out of this, vermin! A beauty such as him should be taken down by one simply more beautiful, not an ugly animal like you."

"Watch your tongue!" Adon shouts in a threatening tone and with full confidence.

"Besides, his friend said it's a battle royale, so anyone can attack one of them, including this brat," Adon points his fist at Kanon.

Kanon faces a dilemma seeing that he's facing TWO fighters. Fighting Vega is already a problem, but with the addition of Adon, it only gets worse.

Meanwhile, Kite and Sakura are getting better with their fight against Bryan Fury. They manage to work together properly as they exchange their blows and skills at Fury, each with unpredictable tactics.

However, despite their teamwork, it doesn't seem to slow down the fierce fighter at all. Instead, he's gotten more vicious, more psychotic, and crazier. It's almost as if he's truly enjoying every moment of it. Inflicting pain on others and himself, it's quite disturbing.

Kite stands there in his offensive stance, preparing to counter Bryan's ferocious attack. At the same time, the boy in red tries to figure the reason his opponent isn't wearing down. That is when he notices Sakura isn't paying attention to the enemy. Instead, she's looking at the roster above the ring.

Something about the roster shocks Sakura.

"What's wrong, Sakura?" Kite whispers as he looks up at the roster as well. When he does so, he can see why Sakura is shocked.

It turns out that ever since the brigade's withdrawal from the tournament, the roster has been changed. It also shows that Angel's match is already over minutes ago.

"W-What?!" Kite shouts in a surprised tone. Bryan Fury suddenly charges in and attacks the distracted boy in red. Thankfully, Kite's reflex allows him to block Fury's incoming attack. The former immediately forces the latter away from Sakura as they continue fight in close combat.

Sakura's eyes are still set on the roster. Her shocked expression soon changes to a horrified one. She fears for Angel's safety if she's actually defeated in her friend's second match.

The upbeat girl soon snaps back to reality when she suddenly feels that she's being watched. She turns to the direction and finds a punk in a sleeveless shirt with a long, messy black hair. She immediately notices the tattoo on the punk's right arm, which belongs to a Blood Viper.

"T-That guy!" Sakura yells. She quickly turn at Kite and sees her friend fighting Bryan Fury alone. The boy in red looks back at her and yells, "Go! I can take care of him!"

Sakura nods in response.

While Kite fights Bryan Fury, Sakura runs toward the Blood Viper gang member. The punk quickly realizes that the Street Fighter girl intends to catch him. Said punk quickly turns and runs for it.

-/-

The chase leads Sakura to the lobby.

Fortunately, Sakura is much faster than the punk so she's able to catch him.

The Street Fighter girl grabs the punk's arms and twist them. "Alright, where's Angel?!" Sakura interrogates the punk.

"A-Angel? I-I know nothin' no Angel!" the punk yelps anxiously. Sakura doesn't take that answer lightly. In response, she twists the punk's arms even more, which is painful enough for him to squeal.

"O-Okay, okay! Take it easy! I tell ya!" the punk yelps again, "Angel has lost her second match!"

It's exactly what Sakura feared...

At first, her facial expression is a terrified one filled with anxious and fear. It's soon changes quickly into an angered expression.

"Where is she now?!" Sakura asks in a slightly raised tone.  
"S-She's in the Casino, girl!" the punk immediately answers.

"What?! Don't tell me you guys know what's going on in there!" Sakura shouts in a more angered tone as she quickly turns the man around and grabs him by his collar. She's much stronger than the Blood Viper member as she lifts him up easily while still holding him by the said collar.

"Hey, it's in the rules! If she lost, then she must pay the price!" the punk said back in a very anxious tone.

"And you didn't do anything to help her?! She saw you guys as her family!"  
"Hey, she ain't family to us now that she failed her initiation, so kudos to her!"

The very things from the punk's mouth absolutely enrages Sakura. She tosses the punk aside and turns toward the stadium's main entrance. "_I gotta save her!_"

Just when Sakura is about to run for the entrance, she quickly remembers Kite. Her friend may still be fighting with the crazed fighter and probably needs help by now.

She turns back and forth at the entrance and the way back to the ring respectively...

-/-

With Sakura absent from the fight, Kite is having a bit trouble with Bryan Fury.

The fearsome fighter blocks the .hack hero's entire attacks, except for a few. To make it worse, his blades and kicks do little harm on said fighter. His speed manages to help him to evade most of Bryan's brutal moves though he can't keep it up forever.

At the same time, Kanon has trouble facing two fighters, Vega and Adon.

Both the Street Fighter characters have their different skills and abilities.

Adon's fighting style, Muay Thai, mixed with his unusual agility makes him a lethal foe. The said contestant is about to be agile as Vega that Kanon has trouble landing a hit on him. His kicks are no joke either, they're equally painful that every blow can pierce through your skin. For Kanon, the kicks deliver a huge amount of pain for him.

Vega's mix of matador and ninja styles give him a huge advantage over his opponents. His weapon, a clawed gauntlet, makes him another lethal foe. Although Kanon is able to block his weapon, Vega can still attack the boy with his other fist and kicks.

Both Kite and Kanon are cornered in different areas by their respective foes. The former is near the ring with hundreds of people surrounding him and Bryan Fury. Some of them are the contestants while the rest are the audience. The latter is in the corner of a wall with Vega and Adon at the left and right positions in the front respectively. Like Kite, Kanon's area is surrounded by countless of people, including the referee, who's really not fond with the battle royale idea.

Meanwhile, Zangief and Rufus are able to fend themselves against the enormous Hugo but not without a few bruises.

The Russian wrestler executes his signature lariat move but it's not able to force Hugo down to the ground. The gigantic fighter makes his move by throwing a punch sending Zangief flying and crashing to the ground nearby.

The obese fighter charges in and delivers a few punches at Hugo, ending with a double-handed palm strike directly on the giant's abdomen. Hugo swings another punch, but Rufus is able to evade in time and counters with a flying kick. However, as Rufus is still in midair, Hugo executes a downward punch crushing the former into the ground.

Hugo immediately picks up Rufus and throws the latter away. Zangief has just gotten up from the ground until the obese fighter is hurled at him; the collision ends them both back to the ground bruised and battered.

"He's good," Zangief utters as he slowly stands up. Rufus does the same. "Yeah, and I thought big guys like him exist in fairy tales," the fat martial artist adds. "It reminds the time when Candy and I visit this nice floating isle where there are other big guys such as this guy. Yeah, it's like a land of giants, y'know what I'm saying? I remember there's-"

Of course, Rufus' rambling has been cut short when Hugo charges at the two fighters executing a shoulder tackle. Luckily, both fighters manage to evade in different directions with Zangief goes to the right while Rufus goes to the left.

Zangief and Rufus glance at the hulking giant, Hugo.

The Russian wrestler soon notices that both Kite and Kanon are in deep trouble with their respective opponents.

**Underground**

At the same time and in the same place, Kanata looks behind the wall's edge while Kyuu is standing next to him.

The boy in the kimono finds many defeated warriors from the second round gathered around with armed guards surrounding them. They're all on their way to the basement. They're also close to the boys' position, but luckily, they don't see Kyuu and Kanata.

Kanata almost feel sorry for most of the fighters seeing that most of them are battered and bruises.

However, he soon finds the very thing that shocks Kyuu...

Among the defeated contenders is Angel herself. The poor girl suffers the worst. Her face is completely covered with bruises and her clothes are in ripped apart. Her ponytail-styled hair is completely messed up because her opponent had pulled her hair. In addition, she loses her middle tooth, giving her a gap between her teeth. From the looks of it, her opponent must be very fierce and barbaric.

"_What the... Hell?!_" Kanata wonders with a shocked look. He quickly backs away from the opening and leans on the wall again.

"Kanata, I thought the roster said that her fight isn't supposed to be soon!" Kyuu whispers at Kanata in a concerned tone.

"I-I thought that too," Kanata whispers back in a similar concerned tone, "They must've changed the roster. That's the only reason."

Both boys soon overhear one of the guards talking. It appears that their so-called 'show' will start in five minutes.

"C'mon, we gotta rescue them right away," Kanata unsheathes his katana. Kyuu nods.

"HALT!" a voice suddenly shouts.  
Kyuu and Kanata turn around and find a group of guards armed with pistols. They all aim their guns at the boys.

"You kids are in a restricted area! Both of you are coming with us! Any act of resistance will be severely punished and executed!" one of the guards shout.

"Oh crap..." Kyuu utters.

The guards slowly approach Kyuu and Kanata...

_**To be continued...**_

**-XX-**

**A/N:**  
The Twilight Brigade finally discover the horrible truth behind the cruel Dread Arena.

With that, the brigade devises a plan to save the victims and bring the tournament down.

While Dark Magician Girl, Noel, and Nina are trying to get the Knights' attention, the others aren't looking good. Kite is having trouble fighting Bryan Fury while Kanon fights Vega and Adon. What will happen to them? What will Sakura do?

To make it worse, Kyuu and Kanata are caught by the guards. Now how will they get out of that mess?

Will the Twilight Brigade save Angel and the other unfortunate contestants in time?

The chapter's conclusion will be at the next and final part.

This time, only one character is introduced:  
- **_Riko Carlonamus_**, the cruel owner of Dread Arena. He strongly respects the strong and despises the weak. He only cares for his so-called tournament and will do anything to make it the 'best' even at the cost of the contenders' lives. He's an OC of mine.

P.S.  
Can you guess some of the cameos in this chapter?


	10. Chapter 5: Fallen Angel part 3

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own some of the characters in the story. The characters that will appear in this fic are owned by their respective owners. There will also be OCs that are owned by their respective authors.

Special thanks to **Kurush Wuzurg** and **Vastler75** for helping out to write this fic.

-/-

_Three letters back..._

_Next clue..._

**Rakenzarn Tales**

**-/-**

**-Cyril Region-  
Sivurd Town**

**Underground/Dread Arena**

Kite and Kanon have trouble with their respective foes.

Bryan Fury blocks almost all of Kite's attacks, except for a few. To make it worse, his blades and kicks do little harm on said fighter. Now Kite and Bryan are near the ring, surrounded by hundreds of people.

Vega and Adon's different fighting styles and skills put Kanon in a major disadvantage. Both fighters inflict extreme pain toward Kanon though the boy manages to withstand it. The fighters corner Kanon in a wall (with Vega and Adon at the left and right positions in the front respectively).

At the same time, Zangief and Rufus are able to fight back Hugo though the results are still unclear. Both fighters suffered a few bruises.

-/-

Sakura is still in the lobby glancing at the stadium's main entrance the path back to the ring repeatedly.

The Street Fighter girl is unsure who to save, especially that both of them are her friends. Would she choose Kite or Angel?

**Underground**

Kyuu and Kanata (armed with his katana) are confronted by a group of guards armed with pistols in the tight hallway.

"You kids are in a restricted area! Both of you are coming with us! Any act of resistance will be severely punished and executed!" one of the guards shout.

"Oh crap..." Kyuu utters.

The guards slowly approach Kyuu and Kanata...

-Chapter 5 part 3-  
Fallen Angel

Kanata has his katana ready and prepares to dash toward the guards. Thankfully, he's very skilled with his katana so he should be able to deflect the bullets.

However, Kanata is very concerned with Kyuu. The detective boy isn't strong yet and not ready for this kind of situation.

The guards suddenly stop in their tracks as they aim their guns at Kanata. "Kid, drop the knife, now!" one of the guards shouts loudly.

Kanata slowly steps backward and whispers at Kyuu. "Get behind this wall and leave them to me."

Kyuu nods as a response.

"Kid, quit mumbling at yer friend and drop the knife!" the guard shouts again.

Just before Kanata can move in for the attack...

"HYAAAA!"  
Someone suddenly appears behind the guards. He effortlessly knocks half of them down with a single whirlwind kick.

"W-What?" both boys utter in surprise.

Everyone in the area looks at the attacker. It's the tall, muscular man in a black karate gi with crimson-colored armor on both his shoulders and his right arm, leaving his other arm exposed. His belt is tied like an obi-sash. Lastly, the back of his karate gi has a portrait of a tiger. For the man's face, his eyes are unusually shut though he can still see. He also has black, ponytail styled hair.

The mysterious young man turns his attention to the other guards. Said guards are about to fire their guns, but the man is surprisingly fast that he's able to take them down before they can even fire; except for one.

The guard fires his gun. In a surprising feat of moment, the tall man evades the bullet and grabs the guard by his arm, which holds the gun. The mysterious man then twists the guard's arm, forcing the latter to drop the gun. Lastly, the unknown man flips the guard around and chops the latter by the neck, which instantly knocks the guard out.

Kyuu and Kanata are in awe seeing the man easily defeated the guards. The detective boy finally has the clear view of the man, which quickly surprises him. The fact is that Kyuu recognizes the man from the real world.

"Judo, karate, martial arts, I've mastered them all!" the man gestures his arms around in a fashion similar to a kung fu fighter's, "My name is Kintaro Touyama! Don't forget it!"

"K-... Kinta!" Kyuu shouts loudly.

"Heh," the man, Kinta, utters with confident look on his face. "Finally found ya, Kyuu. It took me forever."

Kyuu immediately runs toward Kinta and hugs him tight. "T-Thank God, I'm glad I'm not alone here!" Kyuu shouts, overjoyed to see his friend.

"H-Hey, same here," Kinta quickly pushes Kyuu away. When he does it, he pats the boy on his head. "But I'm glad that you're okay."

Kyuu nods repeatedly and fast as if he's a little boy.

Kinta soon notices Kanata who's a bit dumbfounded to see everything. The tall man is suddenly surprised to see the brown-haired boy as he quickly points his index finger at said boy. "Y-YOU?! YOU TOO?!" Kinta shouts loudly.

"Huh?" Kanata utters raising an eyebrow. Kinta suddenly approaches the boy in the kimono in such fast pace and grabs the latter by his collar. "Aren't you that pretty boy from that anime with the alien baby, Kanata Saionji?!"

"Eeehh? You know him?" Kyuu approaches Kinta with a slightly surprised look.

"Yeah, I've watched that anime two years ago!" Kinta shouts again as he puts Kanata down. "Well... I'm guessing you're from Kyuu's so-called 'world' too?" Kanata asks while keeping his usual calm demeanor.

"Yup!" Kyuu pats Kinta by his back.  
"This is my pal, Kinta! He's a classmate of mine at DDS! He's really strong and has a keen sense of smell of a bloodhound!" Kyuu happily explains to Kanata.

In response, Kinta punches Kyuu by his head. "Idiot! For the last time, I'm not a dog!" The tall man shouts angrily at Kyuu. Kanata stares blankly at the pair while dropping a single sweat from the back of his head.

"But man!" Kinta turns around staring at the wall, "This world has just gotten crazier! First, I almost got killed by some lizard people in the swamp, met those friggin' Toads from Super Mario Bros., punched Bluto from Popeye, and now Kanata from Daa! Daa! Daa! ...This is just too much to handle!" Kinta exclaims excitedly.

Kyuu's friend immediately realizes that if most famous and infamous characters from different series are here in Rakenzarn, he figures the beautiful and hot characters might be in the storybook's world as well, such as a certain girl who's a wrestler in red.

Kinta's fantasy soon snaps when Kanata calls out both him and Kyuu.

"Hey... I really hate to break this reunion, but we have a problem here," Kanata points behind the edge of the wall. Kyuu looks beyond it only to see that the prisoners and the guards are no longer there.

"Ah crap!" Kyuu exclaims in in surprise.

Now what will make things even worse? The trio can hear loud footsteps, which indicates more guards are coming in their way.

The guards' forthcoming prompts both Kyuu and Kanata to move out while bringing Kinta along. Not to mention, they have a lot of explaining to do.

-/-

As they run along the hallway, Kyuu manages to give Kinta a brief explanation of the current situation and the truth behind the Dread Arena.

"Okay, now that's totally messed up," Kinta comments on the tournament's sadistic fate for the losers.

"Yeah, and Sakura's friend will be next if we don't save them soon!" Kyuu tells Kinta.

"Sakura?"  
"She's a friend from Street Fighter."  
"S-Seriously? Even Street Fighter?!"

"Would you two keep it down?" Kanata asks both of them in a gentle manner while keeping his straight face. Eventually, they reach another direction leading to the right. They quickly lean back at the wall as Kanata move toward the edge of the wall intending to peek what's behind it.

A group of three guards, each armed with a pistol, is stationed there guarding a door. In addition to the door, there are two silver tiger statues placed on the left and right sides.

"You sure this is the way to the underground?" Kanata asks as Kyuu and Kinta approach the former.

"Yeah, I'm sure of it. When Kite, Sakura, and I got away from down there, we escaped through there," Kyuu reassures his friend. He recognizes the statues near the door since when he escaped from the casino earlier, he has a quick glimpse of the statues while on the run. There's no mistaking it.

For their next move, how are they going to get rid of the guards? Kyuu would like to avoid the guards as soon as possible so they can get around with less guards pursuing them. Unfortunately, they don't have much of a choice when they begin to hear more footsteps echoing across the hall.

"No other choice," Kanata pulls out his sword and turns his attention at Kyuu and Kinta. "You two, I'll distract and force them into using up their bullets. Once they're starting to reload their guns, you two come in and knock them out. Got it?"

Without a second chance to let Kyuu or Kinta to acknowledge his tactic, Kanata immediately jumps out of hiding and confronts the guards.

The surprised guards immediately draw out their pistols and aim at the brown-haired boy. "You there! Drop that knife and come with us!" one of the pair shouts.

Kanata raises an eyebrow showing his slight surprise, seeing the guards mistakenly refer his katana for a knife. That kinda makes you wonder, how did these guys manage to get a job as guards in the first place if they can't the weapons' names right?

Kanata just stands there, refusing to drop his katana.

"I said drop your knife!"

…

"I said DROP IT, kid!"

…

"You really want us to shoot you?!"

Kanata doesn't have any reaction with the guards' threats. He just stands there with his hand on his sword's hilt, preparing for the upcoming attack.

"FIRE!" the guards shoot their pistols at Kanata. Although not as fast as Kite, Kanata's every swing of his sword is fast enough to cut the incoming bullets in time.

The guards continue to fire their guns recklessly.

Every bullet counts as wasted since Kanata is able to cut them all at ease. Of course, the hired goons eventually run out of bullets much to their surprise.

"W-What the hell?! How did-"

The guards quickly snap back as they frantically reach out their hands at their pockets, intending to reload their guns.

"Now!" Kanata gives the signal.  
Both Kyuu and Kinta jump out of their hiding spot. The former summons his new weapon, a bō staff, and tosses it straight at a guard as if it's a spear. The bō hits directly on the guard's stomach; it's painful enough to cause the guard to get knocked out. The latter dashes toward the other guard. Fortunately, Kinta is fast enough to grab the guard's arms, preventing the goon from reloading his pistol. Kinta then smashes the guard on the ground; it's an instant knockout.

"Nice," Kanata gives both Kyuu and Kinta a thumbs-up.

"Not bad yourself," Kinta does the same to Kanata.

"Alright, we're almost there," Kyuu said as he opens up the door. The trio continues their way to the underground.

**Underground/Dread Arena**

Back at the stadium's lobby, the fi_g_hts have gotten more intense.

Hundreds of contestants begin to fight among themse_l_ves in a free for all battle, a battle royale to be exact. The audience manages to retreat from the arena to a safer location where they can watch the fights.

Koto, the tournament's commentator and announcer, is hiding beneath a nearly broken table while watching the fights. "Y'know what? Screw this! This is actually much better!" she exclaims in excitement. She retrieves her microphone, which is lying nearby, and begins to comment again on the fight. "And here they go, folks! The entire stadium has become a war zone!"

Meanwhile, Kite jumps backward in a somersault style and lands on a chair. As you can see, he's in the audience chamber. In front of the .hack protagonist is his opponent, Bryan Fury.

It's not looking good for Kite since most of his attacks are either weak or have little damage on the fearsome fighter.

The Tekken fighter slowly approaches Kite.

In retaliation, Kite jumps down from the chair and kicks it at Bryan. The latter merely punches the chair into tiny bits.

Kite immediately runs backward while kicking more chairs at Bryan Fury, hoping it will slow him down. Unfortunately, no matter how many times he throws or keep his distance, the sadistic fighter doesn't show any signs of exhaustion at all. Bryan keeps on going until he can give the boy in red some painful beatings; even to the point of death.

Eventually, Bryan Fury has gotten dangerously close.

Quickly to react, Kite notices another small group of armed guards entering the arena. The .hack protagonist then moves toward them while dodging the guards' bullets. As soon as he reaches the guards, he jumps high in time to evade Bryan Fury, who's following right behind the boy. As a result, the fierce fighter attacks the guards instead.

After a quick beat down on the guards, Fury turns around looking for Kite. "You can't run forever, kid!" the man yells.

Kite is currently hiding between other contestants, who are fighting among themselves. "_What is he? Why isn't he slowing down? Why is his skin so hard for me to penetrate?_" Kite wonders, trying to figure out a way to beat Bryan Fury. He peeks around the area making sure that Bryan Fury won't find him.

At the same time in another location, Kanon executes a whirlwind slash forcing both his opponents, _V_ega and Adon, back away.

Vega jumps high into the ceiling and leaps down directly at Kanon. The boy manages to block Vega's attack, but it leaves him wide open for Adon to attack. The Muay Thai fighter jumps in and executes a strong kick on Kanon's back, pushing him off balance. Vega then jumps backward and throws a claw slash.

Kanon is stunned after the attack.

Both Vega and Adon move in to attack Kanon in unison with the clawed gauntlet and kick respectively. Fortunately, Kanon _q_uickly moves out of the way.

From that moment, Vega and Adon _h_it each other though it appears they block against one another before _b_acking away.

"I said he's mine, vermin!"  
"You're in my way, fool!"

Both exclaims simultaneously, showing their dislike for each other.

That's where Kanon, with his sword sheathed on his back, moves in for the attack. He grabs Vega by the arm and smashes the fighter on the ground, painfully.

Adon quickly moves in by jumping up high in such speed and executes a downward kick. Fortunately, Kanon times his move more carefully and bashes Adon by swinging Vega's body. The impact sends Adon flying across the area. Afterwards, Kanon throws Vega, having him landed on top of Adon.

Kanon then dashes toward the two fighters for the next attack.

The Matador suddenly gets up and executes a quick thrust, damaging Kanon.

Kanon manages to withstand the pain until he sees Adon coming for the next attack. The Umineko boy manages to block the kick and pushes his opponent backwards. Kanon intends to throw a punch at the Muay Thai fighter until he quickly senses Vega's movement behind. His instinct allows him to draw out his sword and turn around. His sword blocks Vega's claw attack. Sadly, that leaves Kanon wide open for an attack. Adon immediately moves in for the attack and delivers a variety of kicks at Kanon's back.

In the resulting attack, Vega breaks through Kanon's defense and delivers a tornado kick, which sends the latter flying and crashing on the ground. To make it worse, he loses his sword in the process.

"Farewell," Vega jumps high again to the ceiling and leaps downward for the kill.

However, just when Vega is about to impale a pinned Kanon with his claws, Adon comes in and kicks the Matador fighter away. Vega manages to regain his footing, allowing him to land safely. He then faces toward Adon.

"I said he's mine!" Adon exclaims while throwing another kick at Vega though the latter easily blocks the kick. "I thought I told you, an ugly vermin such as you shouldn't be the one to end such beauty," Vega said in a lower tone with a hint of disdain towards Adon.

Vega and Adon soon begin to fight against each other for the chance to kll Kanon. Now that's a lucky break.

Kanon uses this chance to retrieve his sword, Zweihänder. Seeing that Vega and Adon dislike each other and they both are after the same person, it gives Kanon a good idea.

Kanon grins.

The Umineko boy charges toward an unsuspecting Adon and tackles him, knocking the Street Fighter character away. Kanon then turns his attention to Vega and immediately fights. While Vega is able to evade Kanon's slashes thanks to his agility, it only lasts for a few seconds as Adon comes to attack. Rather than fighting head-on, Kanon dashes away allowing Adon to attack Vega, which causes both fighters to attack each other again almost immediately.

Kanon then moves in and kicks Adon aside. He then throws a heavy swing of his sword. The attack catches Vega by surprise, forcing the Matador to block the sword with his clawed gauntlet. However, the sword is very strong that it manages to break Vega's defense, pushing the fighter off balance. Kanon then throws a punch on Vega's face, cracking his mask a bit. It doesn't stop there though, as Kanon executes a knee kick on Vega's abdomen.

The Spanish Matador glares at Kanon with widened eyes as he intends to thrust the boy. However, Kanon merely side steps to the right. What lies ahead of Vega is Adon who's about to kick the Umineko boy again. As a result, both Street Fighters hit each other again.

While they're both distracted, Kanon moves in again.

Once he gets close to them, he smashes his sword on the ground creating a slight shock wave. That move causes both Vega and Adon to, not just get stunned, but bounced into the air.

Kanon then moves in and delivers some furious punches on both his opponents. Every punch leaves an afterimage of the fist followed by another one. Next, Kanon throws a fast, furious punch in a horizontal line that sends both his opponents flying. They then crash on the ground.

Vega groans in pain. As he struggles to get back on his feet, he quickly realizes something after staring at an injured Adon. "_That boy... He's more clever than I thought_," Vega thought as he turns his eyes at Kanon.

Just when Vega gets up, Adon also rises up and attacks the Spanish Matador with a kick although the latter manages to block it. "You fool!" Adon shouts furiously, "You're in my way! Stay out of this!"

"You're the fool," Vega utters as he steps back from Adon, "Don't you see that we're both playing his game?"

"What utter nonsense are you talking about?!" Adon refuses to listen to Vega and attacks again much to the latter's chagrin.

Kanon watches the two contestants fighting each other. He admits deep down in his heart that he finds their argument and fight to be amusing. "So, are you two going to fight or just argue like a married couple?" Kanon asks with a straight face. Now that annoys Vega even more.

While Kanon watches Vega and Adon fighting, Kite is seen not too far from Kanon's location.

The boy in red manages to sneak away from the crowd of crazy fighters. He has already figured out a plan to beat Bryan Fury, but it requires Kanon's help. Seeing that he's technically stronger than Kite in terms of physical strength, Kanon may be able to take care of Bryan Fury's unusually strong skin.

As he gets closer to Kanon's location in every step, someone suddenly punches him from behind. Thankfully, Kite senses the pending attack so he dodges it.

Kite's attacker is none other than Bryan Fury.

"Thought you got away from me, kid?" he bluntly taunts with a sadistic grin. Kite quickly goes into his defensive stance.

"You think you still can take me on? Fine then," Bryan reaches out his hand onto his right boot. He pulls out a large dagger from it and holds it sideways. "If you're going to use a weapon, so am I."

Both fighters stand there, opposing against each other.

…

Bryan Fury strikes the first move. He swings his knife vertically and horizontally though the boy in red manages to dodge them.

Kite decides not to fight Fury seeing that the result may remain the same. He quickly moves backward looking for Kanon while dodging and blocking Bryan's knife.

It takes him a while to maneuver through the area. He eventually finds Kanon, watching his opponents fighting and waiting for the right time to strike.

Just when Kite is about to call out Kanon's name, Bryan lunges in quick and thrusts his battle knife at Kite's right arm, scarring it in the process. "Argh!" Kite yelps in pain. Bryan Fury then pulls his arm backward, which hits Kite's chest with his elbow. The impact sends Kite crashing to the ground backward.

With Kite pinned down, Bryan Fury puts his foot on the boy's abdomen to prevent him from getting up. Kite tries to break free by impaling Bryan's leg with his blades, but unfortunately, the latter presses down his foot even harder to make it more painful; painful enough to stop him from moving his arms.

"Huh. In the end, kids are just kids, and I don't discriminate between who I hand out the beatings to," Bryan Fury said to a pinned Kite.

"Now it's over," the man utters ominously with a sadistic grin.

Bryan Fury raises his knife and prepares to stab Kite with it...

"HAAA!"  
From the moment the Tekken fighter swings his knife downward, Sakura suddenly appears from the right side and executes a flying side kick directly at Bryan Fury's face. The impact sends Bryan Fury thrown aside although he manages to withstand such an attack, allowing him to maintain his stand.

Sakura immediately runs over to Kite and she helps him up his feet. "Kite. You okay?" she asks immediately.

Kite is quite surprised to see his fellow teammate right there in front of his very eyes. "Why did you come back?" Kite asks.

"I came to help ya," Sakura said cheerfully. Actually, she has another reason she came back to save Kite. Before she has a chance to tell him, she quickly senses Bryan Fury's movement. She quickly turns to her left and sees the ferocious fighter rushing forward.

In retaliation, both Twilight Brigade members jump out of the way.

Kite immediately gestures a hand sign telling Sakura to go to Kanon's side. She acknowledges without questioning him.

The pair moves out and run toward Kanon with Bryan Fury behind them. At first, Bryan Fury has no idea why the pair isn't fighting him seriously until he notices the sullen boy in the front. He soon gets his answer.

"So that's how you wanna play," Bryan smirks. He reaches out something from his pocket on his right knee and pulls it out. That particular something is a hand grenade.

Bryan Fury takes out the pull cord from the grenade and tosses the explosive toward the running pair. Fortunately, Kite senses the grenade so he turns around and throws his blade directly at the hurling grenade in the air. Once the blade hits the said grenade, it causes a small but strong explosion. Emerging from the smoke is the remain of Kite's blade, completely in shambles.

Now wielding only one blade, Kite continues his way alongside Sakura.

Eventually, the pair reaches their friend, Kanon.

"KANON, THINK FAST!" Kite shouts as a signal.

Kanon widens his eyes when he hears it. As soon as both Kite and Sakura stand next to the Umineko boy, he immediately turns around and swings his sword heavily at a charging Bryan.

The Tekken fighter blocks Kanon's attack quickly with his knife. Fortunately, the boy's sword is actually very strong; enough to send Bryan Fury sliding backward. Once he stops in his trail, Bryan soon notices a large crack on his knife. That alone makes his realize Kanon's strength and also confirms his suspicion.

"Well played," Bryan Fury smirks while glancing at Kanon. The latter glances back at the former with his expression is blank as usual.

"Think you can take care of those two?" Kanon asks Kite and Sakura while still looking at Bryan. The Twilight Brigade's Lightning Bruiser obviously refers to Vega and Adon. Of course, the two Street Fighter characters are still battling out against each other. Kite and Sakura nod in unison before they approach Kanon's opponents.

"Let's see what you got, pretty boy," Bryan Fury said as he holds his knife sideways, preparing to fight Kanon.

Kanon doesn't respond as he remains quiet. He points his sword at his opponent.

-/-

At the same time, Zangief and Rufus are still fighting with the enormous giant, Hugo.

Zangief quickly kneels as Rufus steps on his back. The obese fighter uses his friend's back as a stepping stone to launch himself into the air toward Hugo. "**Messiah Kick**!" Rufus delivers a flying kick at Hugo's face. Unfortunately, it's not enough to hurt the giant as he easily slams Rufus aside. The impact sends the obese Street Fighter character crashing at a wall.

Our favorite Russian wrestler of the Street Fighter series dashes forth to avenge his comrade. He does his best to grab Hugo by his waist and lift the giant up. Unfortunately, even with his brute strength, it's not enough to lift the giant.

"Your muscle isn't enough!" Hugo suddenly shouts as he unexpectedly jumps into the air and flops into the ground by his belly. In the process, it smashes Zangief into the ground. Once Zangief is pinned on the ground, Hugo forces him to get up and punches him, sending the famous wrestler aside.

"Ugh, now you done it, pal!" Rufus immediately gets up and runs toward the giant.

Hugo turns at Rufus and throws a punch with his enormous fist. In a close moment, Rufus steps to the right to evade the punch. The obese fighter does the right thing as the fist crushes through the ground. If he hadn't dodge, he would've been knocked out instantly by now. With Hugo's fist on the ground, Rufus uses the opportunity to leap into the air and releases a flurry of jabs.

Once Rufus lands, Hugo uses his other fist and throws another punch at Rufus. Fortunately, the obese fighter evades to the right in time before the giant's fist smashes onto the ground. As a result, Hugo's other fist is also stuck on said ground.

With both fists stuck on the ground, Rufus quickly get in front of the giant and dashes toward him in an attempt to attack on the face. Surprisingly, he's not alone. Zangief, who recovers from the severe beating earlier, joins in.

Both fighters jump into the air and throw their respective punches on Hugo directly at the face. The combined attacks manage to force Hugo backward and falling down by his back.

Unfortunately, it is not to beat Hugo as the giant slowly gets up. The good thing is that Zangief and Rufus are able to hurt their opponent. If this keeps up, they'll be able to take down Hugo in no time.

Both Zangief and Rufus go into their defensive stance, preparing for the giant's next attack.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

Back at Red Jewel in the surface, the girls (consist of Dark Magician Girl, Nina, and Noel) have gotten most of the customers out of the restaurant.

Dark Magician Girl and Nina use their combined spells to cause a mess in the interior while Noel's gun skills manage to scare off the customers and staff members. Now only a few employees are still in the restaurant, including the chef and the waiter behind the counter.

"Is it enough?" Dark Magician Girl asks with a grin.

From that moment, an employee suddenly enters the restaurant and shouts, "The Knights are coming!"

"And there's my answer," Dark Magician Girl said with a satisfied smile.  
"Somehow... This doesn't feel right..." Noel admits shyly.

"Let's go, girls!" Dark Magician Girl grabs Noel by her arm and she, alongside Nina, runs back to the kitchen. "The plan works! We gotta get back!"

The girls return to the kitchen and enters the secret passage through the secret wall. Before they descend through the hidden passage, the young magician uses her magic to blow wall down, creating a hole in the process and exposing the secret passageway. Once it's done, the girls descend the passage and return to the underground.

It doesn't take that long for The Knights to arrive at the scene. Most of the Knights are armed with swords and some are armed with guns.

The particular group of Knights are led by a tall, muscular man with a wild and aggressive appearance. He has a long face with pronounced cheekbones and hairless eyebrow ridges. He has green eyes and long, stringy black hair. A noticeable trait of his appearance is his long, thin scar running down the left side of his face. As for his clothes, it's quite an interesting one. He wears a black kimono and crimson armor that covers most of his upper body and his ankles.

"Captain, this is the place!" one of the Knights said to the large man, the captain.

"Alright, what the hell's going on here?!" the large captain shouts, demanding answers.

The waiter behind the counter immediately approaches the Knights. "A-About time you got here! T-There are these delinquents, they suddenly show up at our restaurant! They said that this is now their turf and begin to wreck things around! One of them got guns!" the waiter explains to them frantically with a stuttering voice.

"Delinquents? Where did they go?" one of the Knights' sergeants asks.

"T-They went to the kitchen!" the waiter quickly points at the door leading to the said kitchen.

However, the chef suddenly bursts out of the kitchen with a distraught look on his face. "Those brats! They blew a hole at the passageway! We gotta close it up before someone see-"

The chef quickly becomes silence when he realizes that the Knights are in the restaurant. He also notices that the waiter and some of the workers aren't exactly happy to see him exposing their little secret.

"Oops?"

* * *

**Underground**

At the Casino, Kyuu and his team are somewhat closer to the restricted area where it leads to the basement. The 'show' of torture on the losers is located there. By now, the captives are already taken there.

There's not much time left.

Kyuu, Kanata, and Kinta eventually reach a long, wide-spaced hallway. At the end of it, there is another door albeit blue color with a moose trophy above it. The detective boy recognizes the door's design; they're now very close to their destination. Once they get pass the door, they'll find the last door that has the label 'NO ENTRY, PERSONNEL ONLY!' leading to the small room with staircase.

However, Kanata suddenly stops in his trail prompting the other two to stop as well. The brown-haired boy notices something is truly wrong.

The quietness, the heavy atmosphere, and the ominous presence...  
Those alone prove it.

"What's wrong?" Kyuu asks.

"It's quiet... Too quiet," Kanata answers.

Now that Kanata has mentioned it, Kinta also notices that something is wrong. Ever since they're halfway to their destination, he can no longer hear guards' footsteps or see any of them along the way. Thanks to his experience as a fighter and a detective in the real world, he guesses there's an ambush.

Kyuu's muscular friend stays quiet as he allows his instincts to take over. With his unusual, yet gifted senses, he is able to sense the guards by hearing them breathing. They're all beyond the door up ahead.

How many of them? Well, let's say they're a lot more.

Kinta whispers at Kyuu and Kanata about the hidden guards, but more importantly, the mysterious enemy among the guards.

Kanata gestures his hand, telling Kinta to stand forward while Kyuu to stand behind. Now Kanata and Kinta are in the front line while Kyuu is in the back line. Next, Kanata prompts Kyuu to summon his bō staff, which the latter complies. Once that's all done, they all prepare for the worst...

The door begins to open slowly...

A large group of guards suddenly storm into the hallway and aim their pistols at the trio. "You've gone far enough! Surrender now or we will kill you!" one of the guards exclaim.

"Get ready," Kanata whispers as his holds his katana tighter. He then looks at Kyuu in the back. "Remember what we did with the other guards. Let these guys used up their bullets and then we'll move in. Got it?"

Kyuu nods.

Kinta smiles as he clenches his fists.  
"And there's plenty of 'em here. Hey," Kinta calls Kanata out, "What about a little contest? See who gets the most!"

"Sure," Kanata said flatly while nodding as Kinta smirks.

"I said surrender, not mumbling around!" the guard shouts again, but the trio doesn't comply. The guards then open fire at the trio, which Kanata responds by deflecting the bullets with his katana. This time, Kanata does his best to swing his sword much faster since they're facing more enemies.

The result is exactly the same as before. Once they're out, the guards quickly switch place with the other guards behind the door since the latter haven't used their guns yet. As soon as the next guards come inside, Kyuu leaps into the air and throws his bō staff in a boomerang fashion. The staff eventually hits the armed guards knocking their guns off their hands.

"Let's go!" both Kanata and Kinta dash forward to attack the guards.

**Underground/Dread Arena**

Back at the stadium, Kite and Sakura are fighting Vega and Adon respectively.

"WOOHOO!" Sakura executes a whirlwind kick in midair at Adon. The impact knocks the latter down in the ground.

"Don't get cocky, brat!" Adon suddenly gets up and leaps into the air. He then executes a swirling kick in a downward fashion at Sakura. Fortunately, the Twilight Brigade's self-taught martial artist manages to block the kick. Adon immediately jumps backward distancing himself away from Sakura.

Adon dashes forward at Sakura and executes a somersault while whipping his leg around. The kick causes a slashing shockwave to form along the arc of his kick. Fortunately, Sakura manages to block the kick but the slashing shockwave from it damages her arms. It doesn't finish there just yet. Adon quickly gets down on the ground before he leaps forward, launching a thrusting knee attack. The assault sends Sakura in midair and caused extreme pain.

"Foolish girl! Do you really think you can defeat me?" Adon boasts again whilst he's still in midair alongside Sakura. Eventually, they both descend to the ground with Adon lands safely while Sakura falls. The Muay Thai fighter expects the girl, who's lying on the ground, to be in fear by now. On the contrary, he notices Sakura's smile.

Sakura gets up and poses her karate stance. She also gestures her right hand, prompting Adon to attack again.

Adon merely laughs and calls Sakura a "fool" again.

The Muay Thai fighter moves in to deliver another set of kicks. However, Sakura times her movement carefully. As soon as Adon gets close and somersaults forward, Sakura immediately jumps and rotates her leg in circle, kicking Adon backward in such a brute force. The egotistical fighter crashes on the ground, leaving him dazed. When Adon gets up, he sees Sakura dashing and leaping forward with her fists held over her head. It's too late for Adon to defend since Sakura is already close. The upbeat girl brings her fists downward in a hammer strike that forces the Muay Thai fighter to the ground again.

Sakura quickly moves backward before Adon gets back on his feet.

Adon jumps backward high into the air and then shoots down toward Sakura with his leg extended. Sakura just smiles cheerfully as she poses her defensive stance, preparing to execute another of her whirling kick as a counterattack.

At time same time, Kite is somewhere nearby Sakura's position. The boy in red fights Vega with only one blade. While both are agile, their speeds are completely different.

Vega lunges forth and slashes Kite with his claw though the latter blocks it with his blade. With both weapons locked against each other, the Twilight Brigade member then executes a kick on the former's right side, but Vega does the same by blocking the kick with his leg.

Both fighters immediately slide backward.

Kite dashes forward to execute a fast thrust slash. Unfortunately Vega leaps into the ceiling above in time to evade the boy's slash. The matador then descends in high speed to attack the boy in red. Kite's high reflexes allow him to move quickly by sliding backward; just in time to avoid Vega's attack.

The Matador fighter then moves in and delivers a few slashes at Kite. This time, much faster from he had done earlier, making it a lot difficult to dodge. Kite is forced to block the claw attacks with his blade. The next thing Vega is going to do is leaping to the right side toward a nearby wall. He then kick-jumps off from it high into the air and then towards his opponent. Kite suddenly leaps into the air above and faces Vega in midair combat, blocking the latter's attempted attack.

While still in midair (with the .hack protagonist below and the Street Fighter antagonist above) and their weapons locked against each other, Kite uses his other arm to hold Vega's other arm. Next, the boy in red maneuver around to get the matador fighter below. Kite then uses Vega as a stepping stone to launch higher into the air. The result also sends the Street Fighter antagonist down to the ground though he manages to land safely.

However, Vega doesn't expect Kite to execute the following move. The boy in red descends to the ground in front of the matador in such speed that nobody can see it coming or see him moving. "W-What?!" Vega exclaims in surprise as Kite swings his short blade quickly. The former manages to block the attack in time. At first glance, it looks like that Kite only delivers a single slash; it's not. The boy in red has delivered more than one. In fact, it's about 10 slashes. Due to his speed, anyone can barely see the other slashes but one.

The slashes are strong enough to knock Vega off balance, allowing Kite to perform the next attack. The boy in red delivers a variety of kicks at Vega, ending it with a single punch on the face. The impact forces the boy's opponent backward.

Vega groans in pain as he kneels down. His mask cracks even more though a bit and his body suffers a few injuries.

"Hmm, not bad. For a short young man such as yourself, you prove to be quite a challenge," Vega comments on Kite's performance. The Matador fighter then rises up.

Kite doesn't pay much attention to Vega's words as he remains in his offensive stance.

At the same time, Kanon fights Bryan Fury somewhere nearby the said brigade members. Unlike the previous members who have trouble fighting the Tekken fighter, Kanon doesn't seem to have one.

Since Kanon's is much more powerful than either of the two in terms of physical strength, he's able to hurt Fury and capable to take a few hits from the enemy. Despite that advantage, Fury is still stronger.

Bryan Fury throws a punch at Kanon.  
Although the latter manages to block it by holding the former's fist, Fury uses his other arm, holding his battle knife, to slash Kanon. The Umineko boy quickly drops his Zweihänder on the ground and holds the Tekken fighter's hand, preventing the latter from stabbing the former.

Both fighters struggle against each other. Kanon tries his best to knock his opponent down while avoiding from being stabbed. Bryan Fury tries to break free from his opponent's grasp so that he can attack. Eventually, Kanon performs a head-butt on Bryan Fury to stun the latter. Once it works, the Umineko boy quickly backs away but not before retrieving his Zweihänder.

"Ow," Kanon utters quietly as he pats his forehead. The boy notices that his opponent's body is quite hard. It's almost as if his body is made of metal. The very thought of it somewhat gives Kanon an answer to Bryan Fury's unusual strong body. First, he needs to do something toward Bryan.

"Not bad, that actually hurts... A bit," Bryan Fury smirks as he suddenly charges at Kanon again. Unbeknown to the boy, the Tekken fighter picks up something from his pocket.

When Bryan Fury gets close, he swings his battle knife in a horizontal direction. Kanon suddenly leaps high into the air to avoid Fury's attack. While still in midair, the boy then executes a downward slash at the enemy. Instead of blocking, Bryan steps to the left evading the attack. The muscular man counters with a swing of his knife that manages to slice Kanon's face, scarring his right cheek.

Kanon quickly backs away from Bryan. He wipes off the blood from his cheek with his hand and raises his sword once again.

The Twilight Brigade's Lightning Bruiser charges forth and engages the ferocious contestant in close combat. Kanon swings his sword rapidly without showing any sign of exhaustion, but Bryan Fury doesn't as he merely dodges the slashes. At one time, Bryan tries to counter with his knife, only for Kanon to dodge them as well.

During the struggle, Kanon quickly changes the way he wields his Zweihänder: holding it sideways, similar to a ninja holding his or her sword.

Bryan Fury throws a punch and a roundhouse kick at Kanon's left shoulder and face respectively. While the latter is unable to do something when Fury punches his shoulder, he is able to block the kick with his bare hands. The boy counters with a quick hit on the Tekken fighter's abdomen with the sword's hilt. Once that's done, Kanon throws his other fist and punches directly at Fury's face. The result has stunned Bryan Fury.

Kanon immediately steps backward before he throws a couple of punches followed by a series of slashes from his sword. The attacks work as it damages Bryan Fury even more. However, the slashes should've cut Bryan's body to pieces but they're not. Instead, there are cracks all over his body.

The Umineko boy manages to feel the body with his bare hands during the his punches. He can tell that Bryan Fury's body isn't human at all. He feels a cold, hard steel every time he punches the man. Not to mention, his fight with Kite should have made him exhausted by now.

Metal? Could it be that he's a cyborg? If he is a cyborg, then it's not an ordinary one seeing that the steel body is capable of enduring such strength and heavy sword attacks. The very thought of it instantly appears on Kanon's mind.

Never mind that for now, Kanon's opponent isn't over with the fight. In addition, he quickly notices that he feel something is on his shoulder.

Fury does the first move and throws a punch. Fortunately, Kanon is able dodge the attack and sweeps his shoulder while Bryan Fury is distracted. The boy then thrusts through his opponent with his sword though it doesn't cut him in half. Kanon turns around quickly to execute another slash, but this time, Bryan Fury dodges the attack counters with a punch on the boy's abdomen. The impact forces Kanon backward.

Afterwards, Kanon goes into his offensive stance until he sees Bryan Fury pulls out a device from his pocket. It turns out to be a detonator.

"It's over, kid," Bryan Fury said with a grin as he presses the switch, which follows with a beeping sound. Instead of a terrified face, Fury notices the boy's expression remains blank.

However, that's not the only thing that attracts Bryan Fury's attention. The sound of the beeping noise is awfully close. He looks down on his right and finds a small, pellet-size bomb on the ground much to his surprise. Bryan tries to run from the miniature bomb, but he is too late as the bomb explodes.

Bryan Fury has implanted the small bomb on Kanon's shoulder during the struggle. Thankfully, the Twilight Brigade member noticed the small bomb and he dropped it near his opponent when they engaged in another close combat just now.

As Kanon expected, he can see Bryan Fury still alive after the smoke clears. There is a difference though. His steel body is covered in ash and begins to emit electricity.

"You... You got me..." Bryan Fury merely smiles, "You're smarter than you looked..." The ferocious man suddenly drops the knife and approaches Kanon again.

From that very moment, Kanon senses another presence. Kite and Sakura suddenly appear behind him. The pair is still fighting Vega and Adon as their fight has moved to Kanon's location. Both Kite and Sakura have given their opponents some severe beatings.

Kite is quite surprised to see that Kanon has done a number with Bryan Fury though not close enough into defeating the ferocious fighter.

The trio stands back-to-back facing against their three opponents. "That boy is mine!" Adon suddenly shouts having his eyes set on Kanon. The arrogant man's cry attracts the trio and the other two opponents. "Fine, you may take him," Vega said in a disinterested tone; his eyes are focused on his new opponent, Kite. "That boy is mine..."

Adon smirks upon hearing Vega's words.

"Yours? Heh, don't make me laugh," Bryan Fury chuckles, "What gives you the right?"

Adon doesn't pay much attention to Bryan Fury as he suddenly lunges toward the trio. Kite, Sakura, and Kanon quickly separate with Adon focusing on Kanon. Vega then moves in and attacks Kite though the latter is supported by Sakura.

Kanon manages to evade Adon's flashy kick and tries to counter with his Zweihänder. However, the latter's reflex allow him to evade the sword as well. "Finally, there are no distractions! It's just you and me!" Adon dashes forward and kicks Kanon's sword away. The man then leaps into the air and executes a downward kick at Kanon. Thankfully, the boy manages to block it and pushes the boastful man off.

When Adon lands safely, he suddenly rushes toward Kanon again, intending to thrust a knee strike. However, as soon as the Muay Thai fighter gets close for the attack, Bryan Fury suddenly moves in front of Kanon. At the exact timing, Bryan throws a heavy punch directly at Adon's face. The impact sends the Street Fighter character crashing backward.

Kanon is a bit surprised to see that, thinking that Bryan is defending him. However, it's not the case when the Tekken fighter suddenly turns around and punches the Umineko boy right on the face. The impact sends Kanon to the ground.

"Two for one," Bryan moves close to the pinned Kanon and raises his right foot, attempting to stomp the boy. Kanon manages to roll to the right to avoid it. Luckily, he finds his sword lying nearby so he retrieves it.

The Umineko boy raises his sword preparing to fight the Tekken fighter. Kanon is rather impressed to see Bryan Fury still pumping despite the damages from the detonation.

Bryan Fury gestures his hand prompting Kanon to attack first. The fearsome fighter suddenly senses Adon approaching from behind. The Muay Thai fighter leaps into the air in a somersault fashion while whipping his leg around. As soon as Adon gets close to Bryan Fury for the attack, the latter merely smirks as he turns around and punches the Muay Thai fighter directly at his leg.

What's worse about it? When Bryan punches the whipping leg, everyone can hear a loud cracking sound from Adon's leg.

Adon screams out of pain and horror.

"Pathetic," Bryan suddenly grabs Adon's broken leg and smashes him to the ground. It doesn't end there though, Bryan leans over the pinned Adon and begins to punch the latter's face rapidly.

Before it gets even worse for Adon, Kanon suddenly appears at Bryan's right side and punches him directly on the face. The impact forces Bryan away from the wounded fighter.

"Hey, he's hurt! Don't you think that's enough already?!" Kanon shouts as he stands next to Adon, who's lying on the ground. The man's leg is broken badly and his face is full of bruises.

Bryan Fury is a bit surprised to see Kanon defending his opponent, let alone someone who wants to beat him badly.

"Don't tell me you're one of those boy scouts," Bryan Fury suddenly said in a mocking tone. "So what if I am?" Kanon asks back in a monotone voice.

"The more I want to break you," Bryan Fury said ominously before he attacks Kanon again.

While Kanon fights Bryan Fury, Kite and Sakura are able to topple against Vega. Kite merely dodges Vega's claw attacks and occasionally blocks it. When the boy in red jumps in time to avoid another attack from the matador, Sakura suddenly dashes forward at the latter and throws a variety of punches. The upbeat girl finishes her combo by bringing her fists downward in a hammer strike though it doesn't force Vega to fall like Adon.

Vega leans backward slowly before he lunges at Sakura. However, Kite suddenly descends from above and attacks Vega, forcing the latter to block the incoming attack. Of course, that also leaves the Street Fighter antagonist opened for an attack. Kite's partner seizes the opportunity to throw more punches at Vega as Kite jumps back up to the ceiling.

After Sakura gives her own set of attacks, she quickly slides backward as Kite lands next to her. The pair then dashes toward their opponent, Vega, and both deliver their kicks from different angles. The impact sends the matador fighter crashing against the nearby wall.

The matador groans in pain as Kite and Sakura corner him.

At the same time, Zangief and Rufus are handling well with Hugo. Zangief manages to force Hugo to kneel by punching directly at the latter's knees. Once that's done, Rufus jumps directly at the brute and throws a flurry of jabs on the face, followed by a flying kick. The said attacks force Hugo backward; dazed and hurt.

Once Rufus lands safely, he and Zangief charge for a brutal move. They execute their respective punches that force Hugo backwards.

"For Veryl!"  
With Hugo weakened, Zangief immediately picks up the large man. Despite Hugo's massive size, the Red Cyclone gives everything he has in his strength. Surprisingly, he lifts Hugo successfully. Zangief then tosses Hugo high into the air. With Hugo in the air, Zangief leaps toward his opponent and grabs him, executing his famous **Spinning Piledriver**. The attack allows Zangief to slam Hugo headfirst into the ground.

The wrestler immediately let go of the huge bruiser and dashes backward. The bruiser slowly stands up even though he suffers a lot of damage. "He's yours now, comrade!" Zangief suddenly shouts.

"Rakenzarn sheds a tear!"  
Rufus immediately dashes toward a weakened Hugo. The obese fighter launches a flurry of punches and kicks at rapid speed. He ends it by kicking Hugo into the air again and throws an upward double-handed palm strike at the bruiser's back as he falls.

Hugo is badly beaten and unable to fight back.

Both Zangief and Rufus sigh in relief, knowing that they have won their battle.

-/-

From afar, everyone watches the fights but mostly on the trio.

The guards are still unconscious from the surprise attack by the cloaked figure earlier.

"Damn, this is just insane! And so beautiful!" Koto, who's still hiding under the broken table, shouts in her microphone out of excitement, "Bones flying everywhere, fighters getting beaten endlessly, this is truly the fight of the century! But our starring teens have stolen the show!"

"Just look at 'em!" Koto prompts the hiding audience to look at Kite, Sakura, and Kanon's matches with their respective opponents, "Brace yourself, people! They've just brought the heat to the entire stadium!"

Thanks to her wild comments on the fights, the audience begin to cheer and ask for more blood.

Unbeknown to the audience and the tournament's commentator, the Knights have already entered the underground from Red Jewel's secret entrance. A group of Knight infantries arrive at the stadium. The ones who wield guns fire a warning fire to attract everyone's attention. That also prompts the contestants to stop fighting.

"Alright, what's going on here?!" the group's leader shouts loudly.

Balrog, who's been keeping his eyes on the teens within the other contestants, glares at the Knights in surprise. _"What the hell? How did those chumps find this place?"_ Balrog thought. Realizing the Knights' presence means trouble, the Street Fighter boxer decides to make a wise decision not to fight the infantries head-on and sneaks his way through the crowd.

-/-

Kite, Sakura, and Kanon glance at the Knights.

"Yes! They're here!" Sakura shouts cheerfully. Kite is quite relieved that the Commotion team is successful.

"Damn," Vega groans as he glares at the Knights, "I don't know how they manage to find this place... But I won't get caught so easily..." Vega suddenly presses on the wall, which activates a secret passage just behind him. The wall flips over with Vega entering behind it. The matador's action causes both Kite and Sakura to look back at their opponent's spot only to find him gone.

At the same time, Bryan Fury isn't exactly happy to see the Knights, but at least he has a good fight. The man quickly picks up a small orb from his pocket before he looks at Kanon and utters, "I'll see you around, kid." He then drops the small orb, which unleashes smoke upon ignition.

"W-What? Hey!" Kanon quickly dashes into the smoke to catch Bryan Fury. Unfortunately, the Tekken fighter is no longer there as soon as the smoke clears. Kanon stares at the scene with a blank expression. Although he doesn't show any hint of emotion, he's actually disappointed that he's unable to apprehend such a dangerous man. He then turns his attention to Kite and Sakura who regroup with him.

"Hey, guys!" a familiar voice suddenly calls out.

The trio looks around to the direction of the voice and finds Dark Magician Girl and her group.

Delighted to see their friends, the trio approaches the girls and congratulate them for their success.

"Everyone, are you all okay?" Nina asks when she notices the bruises on Kite and Kanon while Sakura suffers the least. The 'Fight' team nods in response.

"Alright, let's hurry to the Casino!" Kite said to his friends, which they all nod in unison.

The brigade immediately turns toward an emergency exit. Before they can even move a single step toward the door, someone suddenly appears right in front of their eyes, blocking their way. That person is the exact Captain from earlier. "Hold it, you little brats!" he shouts with a big grin. Just a mere sight of the large captain prompts the brigade to stop.

While the rest of the members don't know about the captain, Kite, Noel, and Kanon immediately recognize him from his eyepatch and his hairstyle.

"C-Captain _**Kenpachi**_?" Kite and Noel immediately call the captain's name.

The Knight's captain, Kenpachi Zaraki, turns his attention to the trio. However, the man doesn't seem to recognize him as he merely ignores them.

"And what the hell's going on here? I'm seeing a lot of people beating the crap outta each other and it's getting' out of hands. How dare someone set this up in underground... Where I couldn't participate!"

"Eh?" the six brigade members utter simultaneously with their eyes dotted and a slightly confused look on their faces.

A Knight infantry approaches the captain. "Uuh... Captain Kenpachi, you aren't really going to join the fight, are you?" the soldier asks timidly. The Knights' captain immediately turns toward his subordinate and looks straight at the eyes with his ominous look. "Are you questioning me, soldier?" the captain asks in a threatening tone while keeping his large grin.

"N-No, captain," the soldier answers back, intimidated by his own captain.

"Good, now go and investigate this place!"  
"Yes, captain!"

The soldier runs off to tell the other Knights about said captain's order. Some of the Knights are apprehending the guards and some interview with the fighters and the audience, including Koto who's telling the Knights that she's just doing her job. The rest of them are tending the wounded, including Adon.

Kenpachi immediately turns his attention back to the brats. "Alright, tell me what's going on here?!"

"W-Wait, Captain Kenpachi!" Noel shouts anxiously.  
"We don't have much time to explain everything!" Kite suddenly shouts in Noel's place, "We have to get to the Casino as soon as possible, or people are going to die in there!"

"What?" Kenpachi raises an eyebrow in a slight surprised.

**Underground**

Back at the Casino...

"Ugh..."

Angel finds herself lying on the ground, bound and tied. Apparently, she has been knocked unconscious by the guards in the Casino. The poor girl is still suffered from her injuries; her face is completely covered with bruises, her clothes are ripped apart, and she can't even move her body as it is too painful to move.

When her visions slowly become clear, she sees that she's in a large room. In her front, she can see the audience seats but there's also a glass, shielding her way to it. Although dazed, she can see a few rich people in the audience seats along with armed guards.

In fact, she's actually in a large ring.

She's not the only one though. There are others in the ring, beaten and battered.

Angel turns her head slowly to the right and notices someone standing right there. She looks up and finds a familiar face... The leader of the Blood Vipers; the same man in his early 20s with a black, crew cut styled hair and a goatee, wearing black shirt and pants with a skull picture on his torso.

"Z-Zander?"

"Heh, look at you, Angel. You did a good job in the first round, but failed miserably in the second," the punk leader said at Angel in disdain. "Y'know the rules, you're out of the gang and stay here."

"W-What?!" Angel cries out of shock. That's when she remembers that she has lost in the Dread Arena tournament. A horrified look is written all over her face as she also remembers the rule for the losers.

"Z-Zander, don't! P-Please, save me!" she begs the Blood Vipers' leader as she struggles to break her bonds.

However, the punk leader merely spits at her. "You ain't worth jack," he said in disdain as he turns his back on her, "I'm just here to have a look on your face. Now I see that you're not worthy."

"B-But... I thought we're a family..." she meekly said in a weakened tone.

"YOU aren't in the family, Angel, so enjoy your new life here... At least hang on what little life you have," the punk leader said out flat.

Those cold, harsh words breaks in Angel's heart as if a sword had pierced through her. She becomes much sadder and depressed just by the look of her face. The poor girl begins to shed a tear as soon as the Blood Vipers' leader starts to walk away and exits through the backstage door.

"Ladies and gentleman..." A voice suddenly calls out that attracts Angel's attention.

The poor girl turns her head toward the glass and finds a man up in the air standing on a circle-shaped platform. The man is none other than the underground's owner, Riko Carlonamus.

"I'm sorry to keep you all waiting. We had a little problem with our contestants at the arena. So without further ado, we shall start the show... Now," Riko snaps his finger, signaling the group of torturers to enter the ring.

Angel is horrified to see the torturers just by seeing their tools; whips, knives, shears, all the type of tools you use for torturing.

The torturers waste no time as they immediately begin to torture the losers. The unfortunate contestants begin to scream in agony, echoing across the area. A new type of torture is pouring one with boiled water; painful enough that lasts for a few minutes before doing it again.

Just like before, the rich folks are enjoying the show.

Riko Carlonamus then makes his exit as the platform ascends to the ceiling above.

That alone horrifies Angel even more. She quickly turns her head to the backstage door and starts crawling away. Unfortunately, her bounds and her injuries make it difficult for her to do so.

Suddenly, someone steps in front of the poor girl. Angel slowly looks up and sees her torturer, a woman in red outfit that resembles a dominatrix. The torturer's tools are equally frightening; she has a shear and a whip. However, the thing that frightens the poor girl is a gun sheathed in her waist.

Angel utters weakly, "No."  
The poor girl tries to crawl away, but the torturer leans toward her and prevents her from escaping.

Angel closes her eyes as she sheds more tears.

"_Mom... Dad... S... Sakura... Help me..._"

-/-

Back at the wide hallway...

Kyuu, Kanata, and Kinta are able to hold their grounds against the numerous guards. Said guards are armed, not only guns, but also melee weapons such as clubs and knives.

However, hordes of guards continue to enter the room in an attempt to stop the trio one after another.

"Geez, how many are these guys?!" Kyuu shouts as he stands behind Kinta. The boy's friend manages to counter the armed guards in confrontational assault. "We can't keep this up forever!" Kinta also shouts.

Kanata quickly steps forward, confronting another group of guards armed with pistols. The brown-haired boy manages to cut down the bullets as usual before he lunges at them, executing a whirlwind kick that knock them all down. The brown-haired boy quickly regroups with Kinta. "Any bright ideas?" he asks as another group of guards enter.

The guards slowly approach the trio...

"**BLIZZARD**!"

A large chunk of ice suddenly pass the trio from above and homes into the guards, freezing them in an instant.

"Hey... That spell..." Kyuu utters as he quickly turns around. The detective boy finds Dark Magician Girl and the rest of the Twilight Brigade.

"Hehe, sorry we're late," Dark Magician Girl winks at Kyuu.

"You guys!" Kyuu shouts in relief, overjoyed to see the rest of his friends. That's also the same for Kanata. "Glad you all make it in time," Kanata said with a smile.

Of course, Kinta is quite surprised to see the rest of Kyuu's friends since he recognizes most of them, especially Sakura and Dark Magician Girl. "Whoa... You're not kidding at all, Kyuu..." Kinta utters.

"Oh, we should also tell you that the Knights are finally here. Now they're apprehending the bad guys outside," Nina said to Kyuu and Kanata in a cheerful manner. "Plus, their captain is Kenpachi Zaraki," Dark Magician Girl adds.

Hearing that name completely shocks Kinta.  
"Y-YOU'RE KIDDING ME?! EVEN KENPACHI FROM BLEACH IS HERE TO?!"

"Oh, and who's this?" Nina asks when she notices Kinta.

"Well, we can have a little introduction..." Kyuu turns around to the front as another group of guards enter the hallway. This time, half of them are armed with knives and the rest are armed with guns. "Let's take care of these guys and save everyone!"

The rest of the Twilight Brigade immediately joins up with Kyuu, Kanata, and a rather surprised Kinta. The man from the real world soon snaps back to reality as he too prepares to fight back the guards.

"What the hell's going on here? Who are you brats?!" one of the guards yells.

The brigade doesn't answer to the guards. Instead, they march forward for the attack with Dark Magician Girl and Nina in the back line while the rest are in the front.

"Dammit, FIRE!" the guards with the guns immediately fire their pistols. Fortunately, Nina has already raised her staff and chants a single word, "Oblique," which engulfs the hurling bullets with orange light. The bullets are suddenly curved around and shot on the walls.

The guards are surprised to see Nina's magic as Noel leaps into the air and fires her own guns. The Blazblue girl's bullets are shot on the ground and not on the guards in order to intimidate them. The plan works since the guards are distracted. That leaves Kyuu (armed with bō staff), Kite, Sakura, Kanata, Kanon, and Kinta to attack them.

The other guards attempt to fight back as well, but Dark Magician Girl raises her wand and yells, "**Thunder**!" A single word summons lightning bolts above the guards out of nowhere and strike the said guards. As a result, it paralyzes them. Kyuu and the others then attack the paralyzed guards.

"Let's move!"

The brigade and Kyuu's friend immediately pass through the door and into the next room where it is another hallway. There are still some guards in the hallway though, only some of them are using shields. Much to their relief, they find the door with the label 'NO ENTRY, PERSONNEL ONLY!'

There's no doubt about it, Kyuu, Kite, and Sakura recognize the door as the same one.

What the brigade and Kinta need to do is to take care of the guards.

Sakura gives Kyuu a boost, allowing the latter to jump over the guards with shields. Once he's behind them, the boy from the real world swings his bō staff whacking the guards on the back. Although Kyuu is armed with such weapon, his strength isn't enough to knock them out, but it does flinch them forward.

Thanks to Kyuu, the guards with the shields are distracted leaving them wide open. Sakura and Kinta move in and knock the guards out easily.

As for the other fighter types, they throw their respective attacks to defeat the guards.

However, as soon as they've taken down most of the guards and reach the door, they suddenly hear a loud gunshot. It's not coming from the other rooms or even in this hallway, but it's coming from the door...

The single shot has everyone in the hallway's attention, even for the guards. Sakura is the one who's the most concerned from the look of her face; with her eyebrows raised and her mouth opened slightly. She has a very bad feeling that something bad happened in the 'torture' show that may involve Angel...

Kite, standing in front of Noel and confronting five armed guards, soon notices Sakura's facial expression. "Sakura!" the boy in red suddenly shouts his friend's name loudly as he immediately swings his short blade at the guards and cut their melee weapons into pieces, "Go on quickly! Leave 'em to us!"

Sakura quickly turns her attention to Kite who's fighting the guards followed by her other friends. They also acknowledge Kite's words and prompt her to go on ahead to save Angel. She nods in response.

The Twilight Brigade's Street Fighter member enters through the door and into the small empty room. She doesn't waste any time as she runs straight to the staircase, leaving her friends behind.

Sakura runs even faster as she descends the staircase until she reaches the poorly lit hallway. She can see the backstage door in the front. However, her time is running out when she hears another gunshot coming from the door.

"ANGEL!"  
Running faster than before, Sakura desperately tries to reach the backstage door. As soon as she reaches the door, she hears another gunshot.

The upbeat Street Fighter girl screams out Angel's name again as she kicks the door open. What awaits beyond the door is rather a gruesome sight within the ring...

Sakura sees Angel lying on the floor... Dead...

Angel has two gunshot wounds on her right shoulder and her left arm. From the looks of it, she manages to break her binds. The thing that killed her is a single bullet on her forehead. The poor girl's expression seems blank and her eyes are still opened.

The dominatrix torturer stands next to Angel's body, holding a recently fired gun on her right hand. She also has a satisfied smile written all over her face.

Sakura's face has become a much more horrified look written on her face. Her mind is transfixed with shock, fear, depression, and sadness. The fate of her friend has placed her in a deep state of grief.

To make it even worse for her already anguished mind, she can hear many of the victims' desperate cry for help before their torturers execute them through slicing their necks or impaling their heads. She can't get their cry out of her head... She eventually kneels...

It doesn't take long for the other torturers, especially Angel's murderer, to notice Sakura's presence. "Well, what do we have here?" the torturer immediately approaches the girl slowly. Unfortunately, Sakura isn't concern with the dominatrix as her eyes are fixed on her friend's lifeless body on the ground. She doesn't even speak at all.

"Looks like we have another toy to play with," the torturer said in a sadistic, yet flirtatious manner.

Just before the torturer can lay her hand on Sakura, someone suddenly kicks the door open, which attracts the torturer's attention.

That particular someone is none other than Kite.

Like Sakura, Kite is shocked to see Angel on the ground and the gunshots on her body.

The dominatrix notices many unconscious guards are lying behind the boy in red, just beyond the door. Seeing the amount of defeated guards completely surprise her. The thing that convinces her that Kite's her enemy is the short blade in his hand.

The torturer immediately directs her gun at Kite. By the time she does so, the boy in red suddenly appears in front of her and swings his short blade in a horizontal direction. "What?" the torturer is confused seeing that she's not cut in half, only to see that her gun is sliced in half. Before she can react, Kite immediately executes a roundhouse kick at the torturer, knocking her out in an instant.

"Sakura!" Kite quickly runs toward Sakura, who's still under a deep state of grief. The boy in red holds his friend by her shoulders and shakes her gently. "Sakura, hang in there!" Even with a friend by her side, she is still grief stricken by Angel's death.

Suddenly, Kite can hear the glass behind him opening. He quickly turns and sees the guards are stepping in. "You there! Drop your weapon!" one of the guards shouts. Half of the guards draw out their guns and direct them at the boy in red.

As for the rich folks, they're unusually calm. They merely watch the scene and see the big scenario unfolds to something.

Everyone in the audience seats and the ring can see Kite's serious expression on his face; clearly not happy with the way the Dread Arena handles with the games and the rules for the losers.

"What is this? What kind of a game is this?!" Kite suddenly shouts as he grips his blade tighter.

"Is this how you find it entertaining? Torturing people who fought so hard in the arena and then executing them? Do you realize that these people," the boy in red suddenly turns his head toward the torturers prompting the guards and the rich people to look at them as well, "Are taking away lives? HUMAN lives?! Can you even call this a tournament where you actually KILL people?! More importantly, why do you even see this as entertainment?!"

The boy's words have put everyone in the large room silent.

Unfortunately, the audience just ignores Kite.

"Kid, those are pretty words you just said there," the guards chuckle.  
"But really, these people are just... Nobodies. No one in the world are going to remember them, anyway," another guard said, which further disgusts Kite.

…

"Now just drop your weapon and come quietly. Unless you wanna die with the rest of 'em here," one of the guards said to Kite.

However, Kite doesn't even react. He keeps his serious face with his short blade in hand. His main concern is Sakura, who's still grieving for Angel. While he may be fast and can parry any bullets, he can't parry them all since he only has one blade. For the guards, there are approximately 70 of them in the room so the bullets might be too many to parry. It also risks Sakura's safety.

With not much a choice, there's only one thing to do...

Kite grits his teeth and lowers his legs in a crouching style, preparing to do the near impossible with his speed.

"Kid, I said drop it. Do you really wanna die?"

Kite doesn't even flinch or obey the guards' threats. He remains in his position.

As soon as the guards open fire, Kite suddenly disappear alongside Sakura. The boy in red is actually running really fast while carrying Sakura over his left shoulder. Despite being smaller than Sakura, he's strong enough to carry the girl.

The guards aim their guns at Kite, but the boy in red is able to evade them as he runs across the wall, much to the audience and the torturer's surprise.

Eventually, they've run out of bullets. Kite immediately descends from the wall and puts Sakura down. The boy in red speeds toward the armed guards and pass through them. In reality, he actually executes hundreds of slashes only his incredible speed makes it look as if he'd merely passed them. With that in mind, the guards' guns are sliced into pieces.

Afterwards, Kite knocks each guard down with a flurry of kicks until they're all down.

The rich folks are shocked to see the boy in red's prowess. As soon as they realize that they're in trouble, they immediately run out of the large room, heading for the ground level of the Casino. That action also prompts most of the torturers to run as well.

Of course, Kite doesn't mind letting them go because the Knights have already entered the Casino. By the time they arrive at the first floor, the Knights will apprehend them on sight.

While Kite thinks it's over and that he should check Sakura out, he's unaware that Angel's executioner is far behind him and she's holding a gun with her right arm. "_Good thing I brought a spare,_" the torturer grins as she aims the gun at the boy's back.

Just when she's about to pull the trigger, someone suddenly grabs her right arm and twists it. The woman yelps painfully as it forces her to let go of the gun. Her eyes turn to her right and sees the one twisting her arm is none other than Sakura. "No, you don't," the Street Fighter girl immediately twirls the woman around and slams her to the ground. The impact causes an instant knockout for the torturer.

The loudness of the impact catches Kite's attention. He immediately turns around and sees the recovered Sakura. In addition, he also sees the dominatrix torturer knocked out on the ground and notices the gun near her.

Sakura immediately approaches Kite. "You okay?" she asks with a faint smile. The boy nods with a similar smile in response.

Sakura then turns her attention back to Angel's lifeless body and slowly approaches it. When she reaches the corpse, she kneels down to have a closer look on her old friend. Seeing that Angel's eyes are still opened, Sakura closes them.

"I... I'm sorry, Angel..." Sakura talks to Angel's body in a saddened tone. "I'm really... Really sorry that it has to end like this... I should've come here sooner when you needed me the most... I wasn't able to keep my promise..."

"Angel... I..." The Street Fighter girl's usual cheerful looks turn into sorrow. She sheds another tear as she quickly covers her own face with her hands, holding back her emotions.

Thankfully, Kite is there to comfort her. The boy in red sympathizes the girl as he pats her by her shoulder.

Kyuu and the others have arrived as well, only to see the gruesome view of the unfortunate victims including Angel's body. That leaves the entire brigade speechless...

Even though they manage to prevent more fighters from losing and stopped the underground tournament, they failed to save the lives of the losers...

* * *

In a few hours, most of the employees of the underground are arrested by the Knights though some are pardoned as they're unaware of the underground's real intention, such as Koto the tournament's commentator.

They also dig out the corpses of past fighters who participate the previous tournaments. They manage to identify the murdered fighters and discover that most of them are the missing adults. The victims' families are grief-stricken once they hear the news of their loved ones' death.

As for the underground itself, it is now disbanded and the Dread Arena tournament will never be opened ever again.

Those who work in the underground are sentenced 10 years in prison. As for the torturers, mainly the ones who kill the victims... Let's say they're not so lucky as the other employees.

With that over, the Knights aren't able to locate the owner of the underground, Riko Carlonamus. Of course, the man has now become one of the wanted criminals with a high bounty.

For Kenpachi, he has to fill in the reports of the incident to his superiors.

-/-

Just outside of Sivurd Town, Riko Carlonamus is watching the town from atop of a hill alongside one of his men that manage to escape the underground. They can see the Knight infantries are coming in and out.

"So... Those little brats are actually from a guild," the man asks as his bodyguard nods in response. "Yes, boss. Those kids are from the Nutsy Guild. If I'm not mistaken, they're called the Twilight Brigade," the bodyguard answers.

Riko still has his eyes on the town while pondering over the downfall of his underground empire and his business. You can probably tell that he's not happy about it.

Another man in black uniform arrives and tells Riko Carlonamus that his ride is ready and the hideout is secured. For now, Riko is going to hide until he makes a new plan to regain what he has lost.

Riko and his men turn around and enter the vehicle, a futuristic limousine that doesn't have any wheels as it hovers in midair. Before the driver can ride the off into an unknown location, Riko turns his attention to the town one more time.

"I'll remember this... Twilight Brigade..."

* * *

**Densel Town**

A few hours later, the sun is almost setting.

Somewhere in town, Zangief and Rufus are walking around a street.

Although Zangief isn't the winner of the tournament or at least goes even further through the tournament, he at least enjoys his fights with strong fighters such as Hugo.

On the contrary, Rufus isn't exactly pleased with the results. He really wants to be the winner of the tournament to show off his capabilities and that he's the best. Although he has to admit, he loathes a tournament that brutally torturers anyone who loses the tournament. Be glad that he's not the winner of a messed up tournament, he thought.

"Damn, to think something that gruesome actually exist. I mean, what's up with their heads? Killing off some people for the sake of entertainment? That's so friggin' wrong! I'm sick of these kind of people, all high and mighty but no mojo. It's almost as if they're all bad guys, y'know what I mean? Well, good riddance that them Knights closed it down. Now I just hafta find another tournament that's much better and doesn't involve much killing. I think I've heard-"

Moving on from Rufus' rambles.

Zangief doesn't pay much attention with Rufus. He's wondering about Sakura's condition. Apparently, she has to tell Angel's family about their daughter's unfortunate death. He becomes really worried about her well-being.

"Is somethin' the matter, pal?" Rufus suddenly asks when he notices Zangief's worried expression.

"I'm just worried about the little girl. I wonder how she's holding up," Zangief answers.

"Yeah, now that you mention it..." Rufus utters as he looks up the orange sky, "Must be difficult to have lost a friend."

-/-

At the town's entrance, Kite is standing there. Everyone else is back at the house but Sakura isn't there. The Street Fighter girl is still at Sivurd Town because she needs to tell Angel's family about Angel's death. Kite would like to accompany her, but Sakura told him that she had to do it alone since Angel's family knew her for a long time.

Kite is really worried about her ever since. He's even more worried since he doesn't know the family's reaction to Angel's death. Will they blame it on Sakura? Will they blame it on themselves? He just hopes that things will work fine for everyone.

He's been waiting for Sakura's return for nearly an hour.

Eventually, Kite can see Sakura returning from the long road ahead.

"Sakura!" the boy in red quickly approaches the karate girl as soon as she gets near the town's entrance.

Kite pauses for a moment before talking to Sakura.

"How... How's things going with Angel's family?" Kite asks.  
"They're really sad to hear it..." Sakura answers back almost immediately. The boy in red can tell that she's sad from the sound of her voice. He also notices that her eyes are a bit red; he guesses that she has been crying lately.

"They... Were crying over her... I really can't help but cry with them. I... I failed to protect her..." Sakura said to Kite.

"I just... I just can't believe that... She's gone," Sakura holds her right arm whilst looking down on the ground, "I was really hoping that when it's all over, I could have the chance to talk to her and be friends with her again. But then this..."

…

"But then I realized it," Sakura suddenly speaks up, "While I was walking back home, I realized this... I admit that it's my fault too since I couldn't stop her from quitting the Blood Vipers or the Dread Arena tournament. But it wasn't just that, I realized that she was influenced by bad people like the Blood Vipers. What Angel had said about them and thought they were her family... It made me realize that the Blood Vipers had tricked her into joining their cause."

Kite remains silence, but he is a bit worried with the thing she talks about the Blood Vipers.

"That's why I want to be stronger... As both a fighter and a person," Sakura said in a more confident tone while also raising her right fist. "I want to be a good influence to everyone around me so they won't follow the wrong people. Strong enough to protect them... I don't want them to suffer like Angel. That's my goal... For Angel... For my friends... For you..."

Kite blushes a bit when Sakura flatly said about her goal for him.

"And for him," Sakura immediately said as she turns her head slowly at a long road toward a disclosed location.

"Him?"  
"Yeah... The man who inspired me to be who I am now."

"Ever since I watched his match from that day... I wanted to be strong like him..."

Kite can see Sakura's new determination in her eyes. It's not a sign of weakness, but a sign of a strong resolution; determined to be a better person. The boy in red smiles faintly.

"Of course... I know you can do it," Kite said to her.

"Yeah, thanks," Sakura said back cheerfully, "Watch me, Kite! I'll prove that I can be stronger!"

Kite and Sakura smile at each other, signifying their friendship being much stronger than before.

The pair soon senses a new presence behind. They look toward the entrance and find Dark Magician Girl, Kanata, Nina, Noel, and Kanon. The five of them are very worried about Sakura so they decide to go to the entrance and join Kite. They're all relieve to see Sakura looking better than ever.

"Hey, guys!" Sakura waves her hand at the five, "Sorry if I make you all worry. I'm fine now!"

"That's good to hear," Nina said in relief with a fainted smile.

"So let's go home, together!" Sakura shouts cheerfully. Her usual bright look has the five members feel better. Most of them smile back at her, except for Kanon whose facial expression is blank.

"Glad you're back to your usual self..." Kanon utters.

Much to the silent boy's surprise, Sakura appears next to him. "Oh, what did you just say?" Sakura sheepishly asks while leaning her ear closer to Kanon.

"I-I said that I'm glad you're back to your usual self," Kanon utters again.

Sakura suddenly pins Kanon's cheeks and force them wide to make it look he's smiling. "C'mon, say that while you're smiling!" Sakura said cheerfully.

"K-Knock it off!" Kanon quickly slaps her hands off from his cheeks while the others laugh, even for Kite. The .hack protagonist is just glad that Sakura is back to her usual self.

"Say, you two," Dark Magician Girl calls out both Noel and Kanon, "You two haven't fought back at the tournament, right?"

Both Noel and Kanon shake their heads sideways.

"Why do you ask?" Kanon asks.  
"I was just curious to see who's going to win if you both fight," Dark Magician Girl answers back.

"Oh, I know!" Sakura suddenly raises her index finger when she comes up with an idea. She quickly looks around and notices that there are no civilians. "How about a quick match here? The two of you?" Sakura asks as she points at Noel and Kanon.

"E-Eh?" Noel yelps in surprise to hear that. The others soon agree with Sakura's suggestion as they're interested to see the match. Just think of it as a sparring match.

Kanon doesn't mind at all though.

"Well... Okay," Noel said.

Both Noel and Kanon move forward and stand against each other, preparing to fight. At first, Noel doesn't have much confidence in herself, but upon remembering Kanon's words back at the arena, she gains a new level of confidence.

"I... I'm not going to hold back, Kanon," Noel said to Kanon. The latter merely shrugs.

As soon as Noel steps forward to throw the first attack, Kanon suddenly picks something up from his pocket. To her surprise, she sees the Umineko boy pulls out a cute pony doll. The doll resembles one of the ponies from _**My Little Pony**_ the '_**Friendship is Magic**_' incarnation, specifically Fluttershy.

"Ah..." Noel utters in surprise. Her eyes are fixed on the doll and finds it very cute to the point that she wants to cuddle it. Her eyes shines staring at the cute doll as a cloud of sparkles cloud her face. As you can see, the Blazblue girl really likes cute things and she can't resist them.

The rest of the Twilight Brigade is rather surprised to see that.

Because Noel is distracted by the doll, Kanon casually walks toward her and pushes her down to the ground with only an index finger. And so, Kanon is the winner.

"E-Eh?" Noel quickly snaps back to reality, "I-I lost?"

"Yeah, you just lost," Kanon said casually as he holds out the pony doll closer to Noel.

"B-But that's not fair! You said you're not going to use cute things against me!" Noel suddenly shouts as she quickly stands up. "Oh, I did say I wouldn't use 'THAT,' but I didn't say I was going to use a new one," Kanon said back to Noel in a monotone voice.

"Wait, what?" Kanata quickly asks.  
"Last time, I used a panda doll on her," Kanon answers immediately.

Kite, Sakura, Dark Magician Girl, Kanata, and Nina stare at Kanon befuddled by his choice of using Noel's weakness as each of them drops a single sweat from the back of the head.

"Really? Are you going that low to beat her?" Kanata asks in a monotone voice, seemingly not pleased with Kanon's intention.

"Kanon..." Noel utters, clearly displeased with him.

"Hey, where's Kyuu?" Dark Magician Girl suddenly asks when she notices the detective boy's absence.

-/-

Kyuu is with Kinta at the Twilight Brigade's house, specifically the back of the house.

The detective boy has just told his classmate from the real world about everything including the book.

"So you're saying... We're stuck inside a storybook?" Kinta asks.  
"Yeah. I'm still trying to find out how to get out of here. I thought by joining up this guild, I'd be able to find someone who knew something about the book. Sadly... No result," Kyuu said to Kinta.

"But... Seeing this world..." Kyuu said softly as he slowly smiles before he suddenly stops. He's actually becoming more fond with this world that he thinks that he should stay here for a bit longer.

"Wait a sec," Kyuu quickly snaps back to reality, "If you're here... Then maybe the others are here too?!"

Now that the detective boy mentions it, Kinta remembers exactly what happened when they first transported into Rakenzarn. Their other classmates, Megu, Kazuma, and Ryu Amakusa were with them when it happened.

The question is... How big was the light when the book unleashed the strange light?

Now that's two things Kyuu has to worry: his friends lost in Rakenzarn and find the way back home.

Things have just gotten more complicated...

* * *

Meanwhile, just outside of Sivurd Town, Balrog is walking through a small forest.

"Dammit... No money, no nothin'..." Balrog moans.

Halfway across the forest, he stumbles across Vega, who's leaning his back against a tree. "You!" Balrog immediately shouts as soon as he sees Vega.

"Hmph, you again?" Vega said in disdain, "I find it hard to believe that such brute as yourself manage to escape the Knights. Let alone a Captain."

"You're looking for a fight, you prissy boy!" Balrog roars at Vega.

"Well, well, what do have we here?" a voice suddenly calls out.

Both Street Fighter characters turn around and they find a large, shadowy figure hiding behind some trees. The figure has his eyes set on the two.

"Who're you?" Balrog asks.

"Not really important, tough guy. Just some guy who has big plans for a big party," the figure said.

"Big party?" Vega asks as well.

"Oh yes. A big party for the entire Cyril Region. Of course, I gonna need some help with this and you two are just the guys I need," the figure said back.

"And I might pay you some big cash," the shadowy figure suddenly picks up two large suitcases and throws them at the two fighters respectively, which they both catch them. The two Street Fighter characters open up their suitcases and find bunches of money contained within.

"I still got more of 'em here," the figure suddenly shows two more suitcases containing more money.

Balrog grins. "Well, I'm in," the brutish boxer said.

"Hmph, I'm not too keen with money," Vega said as he closes the suitcase and puts it down, "But I'm interested with your 'big party.' I'm in."

"Now we're talking!" the big shadowy figure shouts gleefully.

"You see, I want you two to help me to make a little distraction for them Knights... Starting with BlueLake Town."

_**End of Chapter**_

**-XX-**

That's end of this chapter, but also a sad one.

We're also introduced to the actual main villain of the first arc. This is also the very same guy who hires Shocker from the last chapter.

Who is he?

Find out more in the next chapter.

As for the characters that appear in this chapter:  
- _**Kenpachi Zaraki**_, a major character from **Bleach**

"_ZDWHU RUE"_


	11. Chapter 6: Strange Reunion

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own some of the characters in the story. The characters that will appear in this fic are owned by their respective owners. There will also be OCs that are owned by their respective authors.

-/-

_An invasion..._

_Different factions..._

**Rakenzarn Tales**

**-/-**

**-Cyril Region-**

It is nighttime for this region.

The sky is dark but clear.  
You can see the twinkling stars and the crescent moon clearly.

Outside a certain large town in the middle of a lake, a small group of men in ragged clothes is hiding in some bushes just across the hills. Each of them uses a telescope to have a better view on the town, mostly at the bridge that connects the town and the outside field. Standing on the bridge entrances are ten Knight guards, armed with lances in hands and swords sheathed on their backs. Each guard has a symbol of tiger's head on their chest.

"Ah crap... Looks like they're bringing in the Red Tiger division in town," one of the ragged men said to his fellow friends.

"Yeah, and they're one of the toughest... Now that's a problem," another adds.

Another one of the ragged men stands up. "We better tell this to the boss. The operation is going to be more difficult than we thought."

-/-

At a green, beautiful field just across the town in the lake, we see some familiar faces sitting in a circle formation with a pair of tents behind them. In addition, they've made some fire woods to keep themselves warm.

These people are none other than the Wario Brothers and the Beagle Boys.

"Ugh, great going!" Wario suddenly turns his attention to the short Beagle Boy, "We're lost again!"

"What're you talking about? You're the one with the map!" the short Beagle Boy argues. Both short guys confront at each other, preparing to wrestle with one another.

"Oi, stop this already!" One of the tall Beagle Boys shouts as he quickly separates Wario and the short Beagle Boy, "Let's not forget why we're here in the first place. Now do we know why?"

Both Wario and the short Beagle Boy confess they're after Kyuu and Kite respectively.

"Then they're the ones you oughta fight. I mean, if it weren't for them, we wouldn't end up here in the cold!" the Beagle Boy tells the two.

"Yeah, I guess you're right..."  
"Okay."

"Waluigi agrees!" The skinny brother said whilst raising his fist, "But our problem is how are each of us get back to the hideout."

"You mean back with that fat guy who abandoned in the middle of our revenge plan? No thank you!" Wario shouts in disdain, "Let's just go back to our old hideout at Sivurd Town."

The five of them agree by sunrise.

"Oho, so there you are!" a familiar voice suddenly shouts, surprising the five.

The Wario Brothers and the Beagle Boys quickly turn to their left to the direction of the voice. They find a mysterious, shadowy figure that appears to be quite fat. From their looks, they instantly recognize the figure...

**Sivurd Town**

The people in town is fast asleep in their respective houses. Only a few guards are still awake and patrol throughout the night.

At the Greydon Institution in the eastern side of town, most of the doctors and nurses have left with only a few of them stayed behind. Never fear, the institution also has guards active in the night. Like the civilians, the patients are fast asleep.

Our focus is room containing one of the patients. The room's door with a circular-shaped glass window is locked up tight.

The room itself is quite small, but comfortable for the patient with the wall made out of white cotton. It even has a sink. Though I doubt that the patient in this room isn't going to use it at all...

Yes, that patient is the young man in a hazard suit, completed with a deployable mask. He's lying on the bed, sleeping.

However, he's suddenly woke up by sounds; a few people outside the room are being beaten. The man quickly makes his way through his room peeks through the oval-shaped window, wanting to see the commotion outside.

The man finds several guards are knocked out; bruises cover their faces and bodies. The nurses are also knocked out, but they're unharmed unlike the guards. You could guess that the perpetrators must have knocked them out silently.

"What? What's going on here?" the man wonders as he turns his eyes around, looking to the other side of the hallway. He tries to find the perpetrators.

Suddenly, a man with long, blonde hair wearing a mask appears in front of the door staring at the patient through the oval-shaped window. The young man jumps.

"Don't be alert," the masked man said as he unlocks the door. The patient leans backward as the masked man enters the room followed by another man, a very muscular boxer.

You guessed it, they're none other than Vega and Balrog.

"Is this him?" Balrog asks in disdain.

"W-Who the hell are you?!" the patient immediately directs his right hand at the pair. Electricity is suddenly generated through the patient's hand much to the violent boxer's surprise, which shuts Balrog up. The matador fighter, on the other hand, remains calm.

"I said don't be alert," Vega talks to the patient in a calm tone, "We are here to set you free."

"Set me free?" the patient utters in a surprised tone as the electricity disappears in his hand.

"That's right," Vega takes off his mask and bows his upper body in an elegant manner, "In fact, certain special people are interested with you, Mr. Dillon."

-Chapter 6-  
Strange Reunion

**Densel Town**

**Home**

Hours have passed and now it's in the morning.

Kyuu is back in his room. Nothing's changed in this room ever since the boy's arrival at Rakenzarn. It still has the western-styled interior with the closets and the traditional bed.

The young detective boy is at his desk, reading the mysterious book on said desk. It has written new pages that chronicle the Twilight Brigade's first three assignments. Like before, the book has all the events and the details very clear, not a single mistake or an alteration.

The boy's expression while reading the book has become much more serious.

It has been nearly half a month since Kyuu's arrival in this world and he still hasn't found any answer behind the mysterious book. Not even a single clue to get back home.

Not to mention, there might be other people from the real world who are also in Rakenzarn due to the book's light when Kyuu opened it. Remembering that his friends were with him during that time, they have to be somewhere else in Rakenzarn.

Can things get even more complicated?

While Kyuu searches the book attentively, he's unaware that Dark Magician Girl is in his room.

From the look on her face, she's worried about Kyuu's well-being. The boy has been stuck in his room for a couple of days.

"Is everything okay?" Dark Magician Girl asks, which gains Kyuu's attention.

"Oh. Hey, DMG," Kyuu said with a smile as he turns around along with his chair, looking at his friend. "Yeah, all's good... It's just..."

Kyuu pauses for a while.

"With a lot's been going on lately and seeing my friend, Kinta, here. I'm... Starting to worry about my friends from home," Kyuu confesses to her.

"There are more?"  
"Yeah. Three of 'em."

"Seeing all the dangers in this world... The monsters and the bad guys... I can't help but wonder if they're okay. Heck, I still haven't got my answers with this book," Kyuu turns his head around looking at the book.

Dark Magician Girl suddenly approaches Kyuu closely as she lowers her hips to get more closely to the latter. She then places her hands on the boy's shoulders. Kyuu turns his head around and looks back at the young magician, who smiles at him.

"Don't worry, they'll be fine. There aren't just monsters and bad guys out there, there are good people and they're very strong. I'm sure they're with them. So try not to worry too much, focus on finding your answers, okay?" Dark Magician Girl reassures Kyuu.

"After all, what was that you said at the guild?" Dark Magician Girl raises her head trying to remember the phrase. She finally remembers it when she widens her eyebrows with her mouth opens a little. "That's it! 'If the detective gives up, then the crime will remain unsolved.' That was what you said before... Right?" she winks at the boy.

Hearing those kind words have made Kyuu feel much better. The boy smiles at her and said, "Thanks, DMG."

In turn, Dark Magician Girl smiles back albeit blushes a little. She steps backward and said, "Y-Your welcome."

"By the way, what're you doing here?" Kyuu suddenly asks.

"Oh yeah, I forgot! There's something I should tell you!" Dark Magician Girl chuckles nervously as she steps forward again. "I've just discovered that there's a library at BlueLake Town. It's located just northwest of here."

"R-Really?" Kyuu widens his eyes in surprise. Now that's some good news.

"So... What's in BlueLake Town?" Kyuu decides to ask.  
"Well, BlueLake Town is a pretty big town and it's in a middle of a lake. That's where they keep the Water Orb," Dark Magician Girl explains.

Now that the girl mentions it, the detective boy remembers about the plague that supposedly dry all the waters throughout this region. Thanks to the Water Orb, the plague has no effect on the entire region.

"We should go there, Kyuu. Maybe we'll find something about that book," Dark Magician Girl said whilst pointing her index finger at the book on the desk.

For the first time, they have a lead thanks to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Girl. Kyuu decides to go to BlueLake Town's library... If they have no assignments today.

Suddenly, the pair hears Sakura's battle cry coming from the back of the house; followed by Kinta's painful yelp.

"W-What the-" both Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl utter in unison.

-/-

It turns out that Sakura and Kinta are training outside, in the house's back. The former is seen standing in front of the latter who's lying on the ground.

Sakura has asked Kinta for a sparring match, which ends up becoming a training session instead. The muscle-bound man is the teacher.

Kinta teaches Sakura of a little technique he has known from his martial arts classes back at the real world. It is a counter technique, which consists of twisting the opponent's fist and slamming said opponent to the ground. Sakura has just done that to Kinta.

"Wow... I mean, wow," Kinta said in awe as he stands up, "I've heard that you're strong, but I didn't expect you to be this strong!"

"Thanks! But you're actually not bad yourself!" Sakura smiles as she helps Kinta up.

Suddenly, Kanata and Nina exit from the house and into the yard. "What's going on here?" Kanata asks out of concern. From that very moment, Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl arrive at the scene as well.

"Oh nothin' much, we're just having training," Sakura smiles. "But you should've seen him, he's pretty strong!"

Hearing those words coming from Sakura flatter Kinta. "Come on, I'm not that good," the latter chuckles while scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, so that's what made the sound of a goat being choked," Kinta suddenly hears Kanon's voice. Everyone in the yard look around and they find the Umineko character leaning against the house's wall.

"What? When did you get here?" Kyuu asks.

"Like you, I just got here," Kanon answers.

"Hey! What did mean you by that?!" Kinta approaches angrily toward Kanon, clearly offended by the latter's snarky remark. "Don't mind me, I merely screw around with a buffoon's mind," Kanon said in a monotone voice.

Kinta grits his teeth out of annoyance as he glares at Kanon, though the silent boy remains calm and emotionless. Just by that action, Kyuu's old friend can tell he's not going to like Kanon at all.

Kanata and Sakura are already behind him in case preparing to hold him back if he's going to attack the Umineko character.

The muscle-bound man steps away from Kanon.

"Hey," Kinta turns his attention to Kanata and Sakura, "How did you two manage to put up with that jerk?" he whispers at them. "It just takes time to getting used to, but he's not that bad," Sakura said cheerfully while Kanata merely nods.

"By the way," Dark Magician Girl calls everyone as she looks around her surrounding, mostly her friends. "Where's Kite and Noel? I haven't seen them this morning."

"Oh, they went out to the local blacksmith," Kanon suddenly answers, gaining everyone's attention again.

"Blacksmith?" Kyuu utters, raising his eyebrow.  
"You do remember about Kite's blade yesterday, don't you? He went to the blacksmith to have his broken blade fixed. Noel decided to tag along to buy some ingredients," Kanon explains.

"W-Wait... Did you just say ingredients?" Kanata quickly asks.

"I'm afraid so..." Kanon utters.

Just by hearing that, everyone (except for Kyuu, Dark Magician Girl, and Kinta) has a very good idea about Noel's intention, which is something they dread to imagine.

The detective boy and the blonde magician immediately deduct what their friends are thinking about just their nervous expressions.

"Wait, are you guys referring to her cooking from few weeks ago?" Dark Magician Girl asks. "What's wrong with her cooking, anyway?"

"Hey, we're not looking down at Noel. It's just... Her cooking..." Kanata shudders upon remembering the first time he tasted one of Noel's food. It didn't end well. That also goes the same for everyone else in the brigade who had tasted her cooking and they'd lost their appetites for nearly a week.

"What's worse, she wants to try making beef curry again," Kanon adds, which only makes everyone feel even worse.

Just by looking at their unusual expressions, Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl can't imagine the amount of horror hidden within Noel's so-called cooking.

"Hah!" Kinta suddenly shouts with his arms around his waist, "Now I know why you're making those faces!" The muscular man then points his index finger at the five brigade members, "Noel's cooking has to be soooo good that you're trying to scare us! That way, you can get her cooking for yourself!"

"Really? That's what you're thinking?" Kanata utters twitching his right eyebrow.

"Okay... I take back what I said about him being a buffoon," Kanon said in disdain while gently slapping his hand on his forehead, "He's a part of the suicide squad. I pity him."

Kinta suddenly lunges at Kanon and grabs the latter by the collar. "YOU REALLY LOOKING FOR TROUBLE?!" the muscular man roars like a lion at the calm, sullen boy while Kanata and Sakura try to restraint him from hurting their friend.

Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl sighs.

"Well, looks like you're all getting along just fine," another voice suddenly calls out. From that moment, Kinta casually drops Kanon on the ground though the latter lands safely with his legs on the ground. Everyone looks at the direction of the voice and find Judith, a fellow member of the Nutsy Guild.

"Oh, hey there, Judith," Sakura waves her hand followed by Nina. Judith waves her hand back with a smile. "Good to see you all doing fine," she said to them.

Kyuu, Dark Magician Girl, Sakura, Kanata, Nina, and Kanon quickly approach the Kritya woman to greet.

As for Kinta, just by looking at the young woman causes him to have his jaws open; clearly infatuated by her gentle, beautiful appearance and her composed tone of her voice. He clearly has never seen her or her debut series from the real world though that only encourages him to approach and get to know her.

Kinta immediately approaches the brigade and Judith. "Hey, guys, who's your friend?" Kinta asks.

"This is Judith, she's our friend from the Nutsy Guild," Nina introduces the muscular man to the young Kritya woman.

"Pleasure to meet you," Judith reaches out her hand prompting Kinta to shake hands, which the latter does so.

Seeing they're slightly close in terms of age, Kinta thinks that he may have a better chance of having her.

"Say, what're you doing here?" Kyuu suddenly asks snapping Kinta back to reality before letting go of Judith's hand. "Just checking out here. Heard everything from Sonic about your house and your current progress," the video game character explains the detective boy.

"Sonic? Wait, you mean Sonic the Hedgehog?" Kinta suddenly asks in a surprised tone. "That's him," Judith smiles.

Now that leaves Kinta more surprised hearing that one of the most famous video game characters is also here in Rakenzarn.

"But that's not the only reason. I've come to deliver this," Judith suddenly pulls out a letter from her pocket and gives it to Kyuu. "Piccolo's currently busy at Sivurd Town and he wants you kids to accept this job."

"Job?"  
Kyuu quickly opens up the letter and reads it as the others around him look closely to read it as well.

"Well then, good luck," Judith then turns and takes her leave.

**Street**

Meanwhile, Kite and Noel have just left the local blacksmith's house now that the boy in red's blades are now fixed.

The street around the pair is partially crowded, mostly due to street sales. Many of them sell mainly fresh fish and fruits, the things that the customers want to buy.

Anyway, Kite examines his fine blades. Apparently, not only the blacksmith fixes his broken blade, but the blacksmith also tunes both blades. He notes his weapons' sharp steel and the elegant quality. The blacksmith did a good job with his job to say the least. The blades are probably even stronger than before, making them much harder to break.

"So the rumors are true," Noel said in awe, admiring the blades' elegant quality in Kite's hands.

"Yeah, I have to say, it's a marvel," Kite also said as he twirls his right blade, testing it out. He notes that it's much faster and easier to handle than before.

"Noel..." Kite then turns his attention to Noel and the groceries she's carrying, his attention is primarily the ingredients spices and 500g beef cubes. "You're really planned to make beef curry, aren't you?"

"Why of course!" Noel said with a smile, "I really want to make one again ever since I saw that cooking show last night. I'm sure everyone will love it!"

Kite drops a single sweat from the back of his head.

The pair walks their way back home as both of them are silent. Although they're quiet, they're actually a bit comfortable with each other.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Noel suddenly speaks up.

Kite turns his attention to his fellow brigade member. "Ever since we joined the guild, we spent a lot less together. You, I, Kanon..."

"Now that you mention it," Kite looks up to the deep, blue sky, "Must be that we have lot of new people with us, that we didn't have much time to spend time together." While looking up, he comes up an idea.

The boy in red looks back at Noel and said, "You know, we should hang out sometimes, just the three of us for old time's sake."

"T-That's a good idea," Noel agrees in a soft, yet joyful tone, "What if we go to the old lake?"

"Oh, you mean the lake were we took care the baby months ago?" Kite asks, "Why not?"

As the pair continues to discuss their plan, they suddenly feel something on their feet. Do they step on something?

Kite and Noel look down. They both find someone familiar lying on the ground. Not only that, there's another familiar face lying next to the former.

"H-Hey, aren't they..."

**Home**

Kyuu, Dark Magician Girl, Sakura, Kanata, Nina, and Kanon, along with Kinta, gather around at the living room.

They look at the note that is none other than a client's letter. It states the client is from BlueLake Town and the owner of the very place where the Water Orb is held... The Water Chamber.

It's also the very same place where they produce clear water supplies.

More importantly, the letter states that the client needs the brigade's help. Apparently, a group of bandits known as the Boron Bandits have been attacking the said town. It appears that the bandits are targeting the Water Orb. Although the Knights are able to fend off the attack, there's a strong possibility that the bandits will try to attack again and they will continue it until they take the Water Orb.

Another important fact the brigade should note is the rumor. The client has been hearing rumors of the Boron Bandits are impersonating as the town guards. Not only that, there's also a rumor that a different party is also after the Water Orb. That alone makes it even more dangerous for the Water Chamber.

As the Twilight Brigade reads the final paragraph of the letter, it states that the client wants the brigade as the secret bodyguards for the Water Orb, at least until the Boron Bandits are apprehended.

"I've heard about them," Kanata suddenly said, gaining everyone's attention. They're pretty vicious from what I've heard. They have no sense of honor an they usually cheat their way out. Not to mention, they have low intelligent."

"So our job is just to guard the Water Orb, is that all?" Sakura asks.  
"Seems like it," Kanata answers.

"Huh, this job shouldn't be too hard," Kinta admits after reading the letter.

"Still, this is the Boron Bandits we're dealing with, we shouldn't let our guard down," Kanon warns Kinta and everyone else.

Kyuu turns his eyes off from the letter and stares blankly at the floor. The detective boy is pondering over the facts from the letter. His main concern isn't the Boron Bandits, but the so-called 'second party' that also targets the Water Orb. He can clearly see the reason the chamber's owner calls the brigade's help desperately. Now the main problem is to uncover mysterious party's identity.

While the detective kid is pondering, the young magician raises her face.

"Oh, lucky~" Dark Magician Girl suddenly shouts in a cheerful manner, which surprises everyone. The blonde magician then approaches a shocked Kyuu.

"This is your chance, Kyuu!" Dark Magician Girl immediately holds Kyuu's hands. "Since our assignment's at BlueLake Town, we should go to the library on the way! Just like what I've told you. We might be able to find your answers!"

Stunned and surprised, Kyuu nods though he blushes a bit.

From that moment, the pair notices that their fellow brigade members are staring at them. For the girls, they're rather supportive to see them together. As for the boys, not so much.

"I knew it! You two really are going for a date!" Sakura cheerfully shouts whilst pointing at Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl, which causes both of them to blush.

"Good luck, you two! And be nice!" Nina also cheerfully shouts, which causes the pair to blush even more.

"Right... You two, get a room... Seriously," Kanon said in a monotone voice, as Kanata nods.

"H-Hey! It's not like that!" Kyuu retaliates as he confronts his fellow brigade members. "S-She was suggesting that I should go to the library, that's all! It's not like we're going out or something!"

"You know," Kanon speaks up, "They say the more you reject it, the more suspicious you get."

The detective boy's face is red, feeling completely embarrassed with his friends' claim that he and Dark Magician Girl are a couple. Of course, that only makes the teen to reject their claims even more. As for Dark Magician Girl, she stays quiet and she's blushing the same way as Kyuu albeit steams pumping out of her ears and her heart beating louder.

Kinta just watches the scene as Kyuu continues to reject his friends' claims while Dark Magician Girl stands by the wall, hiding her overly red face. However, the muscular man has his eyes on the blonde magician. He slowly realizes that the cute magician seems to like his friend; something he finds it jealous but at the same time feels uncomfortable. What makes him feel that way? The answer is that another girl loves the detective kid.

If either of them had met, there would be a cat fight.

"_Since when did Kyuu become a player?"_

Speaking cat fights, Kite and Noel finally arrive home through the main door.

Their return prompts everyone to turn at the main entrance.

The Twilight Brigade and Kyuu's friend soon notice that Kite and Noel are not the only ones. The pair brings along two unexpected visitors; each carries one visitor.

Who are those visitors? They're none other than Donald and Daffy Ducks.

"Guys, do we have any food left?" Kite asks while carrying Daffy Duck.

"Huh? W-What happened to them?" Dark Magician Girl asks when she notices that the ducks are unconscious.

-/-

"Food! Glorious food!"

Donald and Daffy are eating up delicious food at the house's dining table. As for the others, they're at their respective seats in the table except for Kanata and Kanon, who are standing behind the ducks.

The ducks are eating so fast that they've already eaten half of the food in just 40 seconds. "Hey, seconds here!" Daffy demands. In just a second, Kanon brings up another set of food consists of spring rolls and corn soups.

"Tasty! Simply tasty!" Donald compliments the food as he proceeds to eat the next spring rolls.

Suddenly, Kinta picks up the white duck. The muscular man from the real world is clearly in awe to see such a famous Disney character face to face.

"Hey! Put me down!" Donald shouts angrily.

"Wow, you're really Donald Duck!" Kinta shouts in an excited tone as he looks closer at the little duck before he looks at the black duck. "Even Daffy Duck is here! This just gets even better!"

As the muscular man stares at the famous Looney Tunes duck, Donald punches Kinta directly at the face. As a result, Kyuu's old friend unintentionally drops the duck though the latter lands safely at his seat. For Kinta, the punch only flinches his backward.

The others stare at the scene with their eyes dotted.

"So what happened to you two?" Kite asks the ducks.  
"You really haven't been eating for nearly three days?" Noel also asks.

"Yeah, we haven't eat anything and we're starving!" Donald retorts as the duck looks at his friend, Daffy. "And I'm blaming him!"

"What?!" Daffy drops his fork and knife as he turns around facing at Donald, "Whaddya mean it's my fault!"

"You're the one who invited me to solve a murder case! And we've been chased by that crazy lady for THREE days!" Donald shouts angrily as he raises three fingers, "THREE DAYS!"

"Hey, how am I supposed to know that our client is boy crazy! Are you expecting me to look at her and find a marital ball 'n' chains reflected in her eyes?!" Daffy retorts.

"Yeah, we would've never met her IF you didn't lead us to the WRONG ADDRESS!" Donald retorts as well.

The ducks begin to argue in a verbal beatdown about their recent loss before they start to fight against one another. The others just watch them fighting.

"You know what? Let's just go and leave 'em alone..." Kanon utters as he starts walking toward the main door followed by Kyuu and the others including Kinta.

"Go? Go where?" Kite and Noel ask as they quickly follow their friends.

Kyuu tells the pair about their new job at the BlueLake Town and the detective boy's plan to visit the town's library, hoping to find clues on the mysterious book. Who knows, maybe they'll also find clues to find a way back to the real world.

Everyone agrees with Kyuu that they should visit both their client and the library.

While the detective boy is explaining their new job, Donald and Daffy can't help but eavesdropping.

The black duck slowly smiles as he hatches a new scheme. _It has to work this time_, he thought.

"Donald, old pal," Daffy immediately approaches his fellow duck friend crossing his arm around the white duck's shoulders, "I suddenly have this crazy idea and it's really gonna get out of our financial problem."

"Lemme guess... Joining up the Twilight Brigade and take the share?"

"Hey, you got that right!" Daffy gives Donald a friendly slap on the white duck's back though it's actually painful.

"But Daf, I don't think it's a good idea from these kids," Donald confesses his doubts over the Twilight Brigade.

"Ah, c'mon! This ain't gonna be like last time. I know these kids weren't exactly successful with their first two assignments, but their third assignment was a huge success! That's the sign of huge success!" Daffy explains to Donald, reassuring that the plan isn't going to fail.

"So whaddya say, pal?" Daffy asks.

Donald takes the time to think over the plan. It doesn't take too long for Disney's famous duck to reach his final decision. He quacks to his pal, "Yeah!"

The ducks immediately run after the brigade and Kinta just when the group reaches the main door.

-/-

**BlueLake Town**

The road to the is quite longer than Sivurd Town. It takes about a couple of hours in a half.

BlueLake Town town is actually located in the middle of a beautiful lake. The lake itself is actually deep. The only way to enter the town is the bridges. Surrounding the town are bridges, each leads to different directions respectively. As for the town, it's actually big; probably even bigger than Densel and Sivurd towns combined.

It's actually a good sight to see thanks to the lake's beautiful environment. The lake is also an attraction site for birds, mostly for the rich fishes in the waters.

The lake is also connected with a few rivers, located in the eastern and northern parts.

There are also boats floating in the waters. Most of them are actually fishing boats for the fishers to catch some fresh fishes. In addition, there are some patrol ships, each armed with cannons and harpoons. They're obviously served as the town's defense whenever enemies attack at the waters.

The brigade, the ducks, and Kinta have entered the town through the southern bridge.

While crossing the bridge, the group sees numerous guards patrolling around the said bridge. Let's say that there are quite many of them.

Shortly after crossing the bridge, the group looks through the southern gate and they can see many guards patrolling around town. Only a few civilians are walking in the streets. They've probably tighten the security ever since the Boron Bandits first attacked.

As they enter the town, Kyuu pulls out the client's letter from his pocket and reads it. The letter states that the Water Chamber is located at the center of town. From the group's location, they're not that far.

The group then walks into town.

Everyone is marveled to see such a big town and it's quite clean. There are actually more people in town when they're nearing the center.

Dark Magician Girl manages to get some information on the library while on their way to the Water Chamber. The library is located in the western district of town, which is much farther than the Water Chamber.

They eventually reach the center after hours of walking. The Water Chamber is unexpectedly small; it is merely an oval-shaped building with two floors.

**Water Chamber**

The group enters the chamber's lobby. Inside, the workers are mages; evidenced by their choice of clothing (blue robes) while carrying different staves. The security guards are muscular men in silver armor wielding mostly rune swords and normal pistols.

The lobby's interior is quite nice. The floor has a red, crimson carpet to welcome their visitors. It also has its own information counter just to the front.

To the right, there is a small door guarded by a guard.  
A staircase leading to the second floor is in the opposite side of the small door.

In an office, which is located in the second floor, is where the client resides. The client appears to be an old mage. His choice of clothing is very similar to his employees albeit red colored and has a pointy hat. He also has a short beard and mustache.

After asking the man behind information counter of their client's office, the group makes their way through the stairs into the office, where the client welcomes them in.

They find their client in his desk.

"Ah, welcome," the old mage greets the eleven. His old age has caught up to him so he's able to talk in a weak tone.

"Thank you very much for coming all the way from Densel Town. My name is _**Pallen**_."

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Pallen!" Kyuu waves his hand cheerfully with his eyes closed and a smile.

"We've read everything about the assignment from the letter, Mr. Pallen," Dark Magician Girl said.

"Ah yes... I'm sure you're all aware of the town's current situation with the Boron Bandits," Pallen's tone becomes more serious.

"I'm still disturbed by the rumors and I can't shake off the feelings. I know I can trust The Knights... But with the possibility of the bandits impersonating the Knights, I can't risk safety with the Water Orb," the old mage turns his eyes away, staring blankly at a wall. "If they had taken Water Orb away, the plague would take effect and dry the entire waters in this region. If that had ever happened, chaos would ensue."

"But I don't understand, why would the bandits want with the Water Orb?" Noel asks. Kanon turns his attention to the shy blonde-haired girl. "My guess? The bandits probably planned to hold the orb for ransom. Stupid, I know, but like Kanata said, they're low in intelligence," Kanon explains to Noel.

"So, where is the Water Orb?" Daffy then asks.  
"The Water Chamber may not look like it, but it's actually bigger than it looks," Pallen turns his attention to the group as he points his index finger down at the ground, "The real operation is in underground. We store the Water Chamber in the deepest floor of the building where we produce clear waters all over the region."

"The only way into the Water Orb's room is protected by a magical door that can only be opened by mages equipped with special bracelets like this," the old mage raises his right hand, showing the group a green, crystallized bracelet. "As you can see, no one, not even the Knights, are able to get in without these. You have to ask one of the mages with these if you want to enter the Water Orb's room."

"H-How many basement floors?"  
"Three floors."

"I gotta ask, since when the Boron Bandits start to attack the town?" Kyuu asks.  
"About a week ago," Pallen answers.

"How many times have they attacked?" Kyuu asks again.  
"Including last week's attack, it's three times," Pallen tells the boy.

"The bandits attack at night and I'm sure they'll attack at night again. Security have been tighten, but there hasn't been any attack ever last week. I'm still uneasy about this," the old man said, looking worried.

"That is the reason I need your help. I need you to guard the orb. I've granted you all special permission to the Water Orb's room in B3. Just show them your guild logos and they'll let you in. I beg of you, do whatever you can to prevent anyone from taking the Water Orb away," the old mage begs the group.

"No problem, old timer!" Daffy Duck suddenly speaks up as the black duck jumps and stands on the client's table, much to the latter's surprise. "Consider yourself lucky 'cause you got Daffy Duck!"

"Daffy... Duck?"  
"Yeah, that's right! I happen to be my guild's best man, you see! I'm the one who saved the kidnapped children from the Child Catcher and caught a wanted criminal at Sivurd Town. These guys," Daffy waves his hands at the rest of the group, "They happen to be my sidekicks."

"What?!" everyone yells. Some of them glares at the black duck while some aren't exactly happy, such as Nina and Noel.

"They're your sidekicks?" the old mage asks with his right eyebrow raised.

"Of course! I couldn't finish my works without their help," Daffy walks through the table until he reaches Pallen. The duck then proceeds to cross his arm around the old man. "Trust me, as long as you got me, I'll-"

Daffy is interrupted when Kinta suddenly grabs the black duck by the neck. The latter then pulls the former away from the client. "Since when did we become your sidekicks?!" Kinta yells angrily. Daffy looks around him while being held by the muscular man and notices that Dark Magician Girl, Kanon, and Donald are glaring at him.

"Yeah, I thought we're in this together!" Donald shouts angrily shouts.

"Umm... Mother?"

-/-

Kyuu, Kite, Dark Magician Girl, Sakura, Kanata, Nina, Noel, Kanon, Kinta, Donald, and Daffy exit the Water Chamber. The black duck is entirely covered in bruises.

As soon as they're out of the building, Daffy drops on the ground fainted.

Sakura then approaches the knocked out duck and scolds him gently, "Don't do this again, okay?"

Daffy utters painfully, "Yes, ma'am..."

"Sakura, you shouldn't worry about Daffy," Kanon said as he stands next to the Street Fighter girl.

"So Kyuu, what do you think?" Dark Magician Girl turns her attention to Kyuu, asking the latter.

The detective boy becomes silent. He's thinking about the facts he has heard from the old mage, Pallen. The one he's concerned the most is the bandits aren't attacking ever since their last attack.

Remembering the fact that the bandits impersonating the Knights as well, Kyuu has a feeling that the enemies might be trying to find a way into the Water Chamber.

"Everyone, I think we should split up before nightfall," Kyuu suddenly speaks up, gaining everyone's attention. Before they can discuss, they decide to move into a nearby alley so they can stay out of sight from the guards.

Kyuu's friends gather around him in circle. "The enemies might be trying to find a way to get into the Water Orb. They know that the town's defense has become much tighter and they want to avoid casualties as much as they can."

"I suspect that too," Kanon speaks up, "But the question is, how? The only way to enter the town is the bridges and they're fraught with guards. We did see how many the guards are when we crossed the bridge, didn't we?"

"Let's not forget about the lake," Donald adds, "They could try cross the lake with boats, but did you see the patrol ships? Did you see their weapons?"

"Let's see," Daffy starts counting with his fingers, "Their ships got turrets, cannons, harpoons..." the black duck then looks at his fellow duck. "Yeah. There's no way the bandits can take those on!"

"But what if they try to swim their way to town?" Sakura asks.

"Ahem... The patrol ships?" Kanata points out, which causes Sakura to get her answer.

"Wait, what if they had dived deep into the waters so the ships wouldn't be able to spot them?" Nina suddenly asks. Now that the little witch mentions it, some of the group find that Nina has a good point.

"That's impossible!" Daffy suddenly speaks up. "If they were going to do that, they would have to dive REALLY deep to avoid detection! They had to go scuba diving in order to do that, but they'd need some scuba gears."

"What? Are you saying that they'll be using scuba gears?" Kinta sarcastically said.

Kyuu slightly widens his eyes in surprised. Both Kinta's and Daffy's sarcastic banters might have a point. However, does the region has scuba gears? He needs to confirm if the Cyril Region does sell scuba diving gears. After all, the detective boy has been in this region for a few weeks and he hasn't seen any much advanced technology from his world so far.

The detective boy has another question: how deep is the lake? It's very important to know that beforehand.

"Alright, here's the plan. We need to investigate the town and see if there are possible ways into getting inside the Water Chamber. We'll just have to split up into groups," Kyuu explains his plan.

Everyone agrees.

"Oh, let's not forget about the library!" Dark Magician Girl suddenly exclaims while raising her index finger. Kyuu responds to her by uttering, "Eh?"

"C'mon, Kyuu! We can do two things at once now that we're here. There's nothing bad coming out from that, right?" Dark Magician Girl smiles at Kyuu.

While the cute magician has a point, the detective boy isn't so sure about it considering about the priorities of the assignment. Then again, there's no harm of doing two different things at once.

Kyuu turns his attention to his fellow brigade. They don't seem to mind about it at all. In fact, they encourage the detective boy to visit the local library. He then turns his attention to the ducks and they don't seem to mind too. Same goes to Kinta.

With everyone's approval, Kyuu agrees to visit BlueLake Town's library with Dark Magician Girl while the others investigate the town.

**Street**

The entire group is separated in the following:  
- Donald, Daffy, and Kanata investigate the bridges  
- Kanon and Sakura investigate the lake itself  
- Kite, Nina, and Noel investigate the Water Chamber  
- Kyuu, Dark Magician Girl, and Kinta visit the library

"Great, why are we stuck with the brown mutt? Why not someone else, I'll even take some clowns with me," Daffy mutters.

Kanata doesn't mind much with the ducks. He just goes along with it.

The brown-haired boy and the ducks are walking across a certain street. They're at the southern section, going to for the southern bridge where they came in.

"Honestly, I don't see why we should investigate the bridges. They're completely guarded," Daffy confesses.

"Well, it is important to pay attention to every single detail," Kanata said to the black duck.

Now the group is back at the street where the sellers give away fresh fishes and fruits for a good price.

As they continue to walk across the street, the ducks quickly stop when they smell something pretty bad. "What's... That smell?" Donald asks, feeling sick. Daffy quickly turns toward the direction of the stinky smell and find a small tent.

In the tent, the Looney Tunes' famous duck find a fishmonger selling some fish. He appears to be quite chubby in a black fur coat with his arms exposed and red shorts. In addition to the clothes, the fishmonger wears a large belt that's actually made of rag. The chubby man is barefooted to boot. The man is also blonde (both his mustache and his hair).

The fishmonger keeps exclaiming, "Fresh fish for sale! All guaranteed fresh!" He hopes that he can attract many customers into buying his fishes though with small success. Unlike the ducks, the chubby man isn't aware of his fishes' stinky smell as he still thinks they're fresh.

"Oh, you think they're fresh?!" Donald suddenly shouts.  
"Yeah! In fact, your fish stinks! It's about to be stinky as a skunk!" Daffy also shouts, adding insult to the fishmonger.

Exactly when Daffy said the words, 'Your fish stinks,' a pair of fishes are hurled across the street and smashes directly at the ducks' face. Daffy sways the fish off from his face and looks at the direction where it was hurled. It turns out that the fishmonger is the one who tossed the fish.

"I dare you to come here and repeat that!" the fishmonger shouts while pointing his finger at the ducks.

"Gladly," Donald growls as he takes the fish off from his own face and starts flaying on his arm as if it's a club. Daffy does the same while casually saying, "Of course you know, this means war."

The two ducks immediately approach the fishmonger. Kanata doesn't do anything as he merely watches the scene.

"In 3... 2... 1..."

"YOUR FISH STINKS!"

Right off the bat, the fishmonger starts slamming the ducks with his fists while Donald and Daffy slap him with his own fishes.

The chubby fishmonger easily overpowers the duck as he knocks them both away. Daffy immediately stands up and runs back at the chubby man. Suddenly, the black duck turns back and runs away, dropping his fish in the process. Why is he running away? Well, it's because the fishmonger is chasing while using a swordfish as a battering ram.

"Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo!"  
"Come back here, duck!"

The fishmonger continues to chase Daffy Duck in circle. Whenever the former is close to the latter, he sticks the swordfish's sharp bill on the duck's bottom, which causes the black duck to jump while comically and painfully yelling, "OUCH!"

After a while, Donald gets up and charges at the fishmonger, homing into the chubby man's abdomen. As a result, the fishmonger loses his swordfish as it hurls across the street. Its bill impales on a wall, exactly next to Kanata although the brown-haired boy is unfazed.

Both Donald and the chubby man glare against each other. "C'mon, I'll take ya on, ya big palooka! You can kiss your butt goodbye!"" Donald shouts while in his offensive position in a boxing manner. Unfortunately, the way Donald talks is quite confusing since all anyone can hear is just the duck quacking. The chubby man just stands looking confused by the duck's sentences.

"Duck, I can't understand a word you say."

"THAT'S IT!" Donald snaps.

The comical fight ensues with the chubby man and the white duck engage in a boxing match. The match consists of the two opponents punch each other while occasionally slapping on the face.

Unfortunately, the fishmonger executes a downward punch, which flattens Disney's famous duck. Now what remains is the duck's hat and his feet under neath it. In cartoon logic, his entire body is flattened and stuck right inside his hat.

Now it's Daffy's turn as he confronts the fishmonger.

"My turn!" Daffy suddenly pulls out a fish from out nowhere and slaps it on the fishmonger's face. The chubby man also pulls out a slightly bigger from his pocket and slaps it at the black duck. Daffy pulls out a bigger one from off screen and then slaps it again at the fishmonger. It continues as the both pulls out bigger fishes until the fishmonger pulls out an even bigger one that's about to be big as his own size.

So what does Daffy do to get out of this one?

The duck grabs a tomato from off screen and then tosses it at the fishmonger's face. In the process, the man drops the big fish.

"Aha! Take that!" Daffy then starts hopping around while yelling "WOO-HOO!" repeatedly.

When the chubby man wipes off his face from the tomato, he starts wrestling with Daffy. Whilst they wrestle, Donald suddenly shows up and climbs over the man's back. The white duck proceeds to whack the fishmonger's head with a fish.

Kanata is still watching the comical fight as if it's a movie. In addition, the brown-hair boy eats a slice of a pumpkin while watching.

"Now this is entertaining," Kanata smirks. Sounds of comical beating is heard ranging from duck quacking to a slap in the face and an explosion to a kick on the butt, followed by an obnoxious yelp.

The brown-haired boy quickly snaps as soon as he remembers about his group's mission. Seeing that the ducks are quite 'busy' with the fishmonger, Kanata decides to investigate the bridge alone.

**Lake**

A certain manly individual is in a boat with his three sons.

That particular individual has extremely large muscles, sporting a short, red hair and red beard. In addition, his chest hair and armpit hair barely concealed. The manly individual wears a lumberjack outfit and brown work gloves.

Each of the four wears a lifejacket.

While the three sons are using their respective fishing poles, their father breaks his own intentionally.

"Boys!" the man fiercely shouts, "I'll show you how a real man fishes!"

The muscular man stares into the waters for a while before he suddenly flails his right arm into the waters and catches a large fish. The manly father proudly shows the fish to his sons before he proceeds to beat up the poor fish; consists of punching and elbowing it.

The three sons cheer for their father.

"Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad!"

"Get 'em, get 'em!" a man in a white tank top with a very low neckline and short jeans with a large buckled belt and large brown boots appears behind the four's boat, riding on a smaller boat. The odd man also wears a green and white hat, sporting light brown hair (with mustache and small visible eyelashes to boot).

In the nearby dock, Kanon stares at the weird scenario with the manly individual in a lumberjack outfit.

The Umineko's facial expression is something you'd expect whenever you want to 'What the hell?" through expression.

Near Kanon is Sakura who's talking with one of the local fisherman.

"So can you tell me how deep is the lake?" Sakura asks while smiling.

"Well, it's about 14 feet, kid," the fisherman answers.

"That shallow?" the fun-loving girl is quite interested after hearing that. "Have there been people scuba diving in the lake?"

"Not many people have done that, though there are a few. Well, very few," the fisherman explains while gesturing his index finger and thumb closely together in a pincher form; to show the small amount of people that went scuba diving. "The lake's very famous for fishing, so I don't see why people bother scuba diving, kid. I mean, there are about three types of fish in the waters. Plus, it shallow!"

Sakura nods while the local fisherman explains.

After hearing enough, Sakura thanks the fisherman for the help.

Kanon then approaches the Street Fighter character.

"Any luck?" Kanon asks. Sakura responds by nodding her head cheerfully.

"The lake's shallow, 14 feet," Sakura casually answers.

"14 feet?" Kanon raises his right eyebrow.

The quiet boy then turns his attention back to the waters. "If the lake's that shallow, then it's impossible for the Boron Bandits to sneak into town by diving. Other wise, those ships," Kanon then looks at the Knights' patrol ships, "Will detect them easily."

"We should tell the others about this," Kanon said in a monotone voice.

As Kanon turns around, he unexpectedly finds Sakura staring right in front of him; very closely to be exact.

"What are you doing?" Kanon asks unfazed.

"Y'know, I've never seen you smile before. You're always... What was that word again?" Sakura turns her eyes up with her right hand placed beneath her chin. She's thinking up the word that sums up Kanon's facial expression.

"Ah, that's it!" she suddenly shouts, "Gloomy! That's it, it's called gloomy!"

Sakura then approaches Kanon and pinches the boy's mouth into making him smiling. Although he may be expressionless if it comes to facial reaction, he isn't so pleased with the fun-loving girl's action. The quiet boy slaps her hands gently.

"I understand your attempts to make me smile, I just find it pointless. In honesty, what makes you think that people will find it comfortable to see someone smiling all the time?" Kanon tells Sakura.

"Aah, that's no fun," Sakura sighs in disappointment.

Kanon casually turns around and starts walking toward the direction, which leads back to town. Sakura quickly follows him.

The quiet boy soon passes by a pair of fishermen who are gossiping over some interesting rumors. The Umineko boy can't help but eavesdropping the fishermen.

"Have you heard, Jimmy?"  
"About what?"  
"Y'know, the rumor about the underground tunnels?"  
"Oh that."  
"What, Jimmy? You don't believe that it's true?"

The rumor certainly piques Kanon's curiosity. Underground tunnels in BlueLake Town? That's definitely important. Now that gives Kanon and Sakura two important clues.

**Water Chamber**

Returning to the building, the third group enters the basement floors guided by one of the workers, a mage girl.

The worker is glad to give the trio a tour around the basement floors.

To traverse throughout the basement floors, the group has to take a spiral staircase. Said staircase is quite wide so people can easily pass through someone whenever they want to go through different directions (up or down).

Most mages in the higher floors are producing and managing up clean waters. Once that's done, the workers pour the clear water into large, transparent bottles and then taking them to the surface where the supplies will be transported to various towns.

As for the lower floors, the mages are monitoring the Water Orb to make sure that the magical artifact stays at its place and continues to magically giving water throughout the entire region. The artifact is also the very same source that is needed to produce the water supplies to towns for drinking purpose.

During their tour, the group's guide explains about the Water Orb's property and capacity. The orb can magically create all waters in those rooms from the room in B3.

In addition, the guide also explains the group about the security system in the basement floors. Whenever an intruder is discovered in the perimeters, the doors will be automatically locked. The only way to open the doors are the workers themselves. For you see, each worker wears a ring that allows them to open the locked door.

Other than the automatic locks, the basement floors have a defense system too. Once the doors are locked, the mages will send out numerous flying spheres that move incredibly fast. The spheres target and home into the intruder. While they're quite small, it's actually very painful if the spheres home into you; it feels like a stone shot you. The spheres will continuously home at the intruder until he or she is immobilized.

There's also a way to shut down the security, including the locked doors and the defensive system. Deep in the 2nd floor, there's a security room that houses a special crystal that controls the system in the basement floors. Logically, it can shut down the security system.

Kite, Noel, and Nina are now in the 2nd basement floor, descending through the staircase. The mage is also in front of them.

"Say, can I ask you something?" Kite suddenly asks as soon as they reach the third floor's ground. The mage girl turns at the boy in red.

"Is there a faster way to get to the bottom floor from the surface?"

The employee shakes her head sideways. "Nope, the staircase is the only way around," she said in an optimistic tone.

"Is that so?"

Without further questions, they continue their tour.

Their next destination leads them through a slightly long corridor. Beyond lies the door leading to the Water Orb's room.

As they walk, Noel approaches Kite next to the .hack protagonist while Nina is behind them.

"Figure out something?" Noel asks.  
"I just want to confirm if there is a shorter route. Think about it, if one of those bandits had managed to sneak inside, they would probably take the short route," Kite answers with a whisper.

"In any rate, we should just keep moving. We still have the Water Orb's room to cover up," Kite tells her.

The group eventually reaches the end of the corridor. The door is quite huge with a sealed mark engraved on it. Like the client, Mr. Pallen, told the brigade, the door is shut tightly and will not be opened for just anyone.

Thankfully, their tour guide possesses the green, crystallized bracelet. When she places her hand on the door, the seal suddenly shines in green light followed by a 'click' sound. The door then opens by itself.

"Lastly, this is where we keep the Water Orb," the worker steps away from the opened door to allow the group to look inside.

The room is actually small, something that they don't expect. The Water Orb is stored right in the middle of the room, contained in a silver pedestal with another mark embedded on it. The artifact, while suspended in the air, is emitting a faint blue light.

"Wow..." Nina is in awe to see such artifact in the room. The little mage quickly approaches the floating orb so she can have a good look at it in close range. The others immediately follow her.

"So this is the Water Orb..." Noel utters as she circles around the said orb, wanting to look at it from different ranges.

"Yup, this is where we keep it. As long as the Water Orb stays up here in this pedestal, it will continue to create clean waters around the building and other places in Cyril Region," the worker explains to the three teens as she pats on the pedestal.

"This here pedestal is what keeping the Water Orb working. If the orb is removed from the pedestal, then the orb will stop working," she explains again.

While Noel and Nina are looking at the Water Orb, Kite takes the time to examine the room. The boy in red examines of the walls and can tell that they're quite solid. It's probably strong enough to hold against any attacks. The only way to break through the solid walls is apply a more powerful force.

Kite then glances around the small room.

Afterwards, the brigade member can concludes that he has enough investigation with the underground.

**Library**

The last group has just arrived at the town's local library.

It's a little big and the room is full of shelves; each containing many books. Exactly what you'd expect from a library.

Unfortunately, not many people go and visit the library as the place is completely empty. Only the group is in the library.

Kyuu, Dark Magician Girl, and Kinta approach the counter where a librarian woman in her early thirties resides.

"Excuse me," the detective boy calls kindly at the librarian. The latter glances at the trio and greets them.

"Ah. Welcome, boys and girl, to the BlueLake Library. Here, you may find all sorts of books. We have history, literature, non-fiction, all kinds of things. You may read it here but you cannot borrow them without a library card. If there's anything you'd like to ask about the books and the library, I'll be glad to answer them for you," the woman said to the trio in a graceful manner.

From her expression, the librarian is very happy that there are people visiting the lone library.

"Well, I like to ask," Kyuu then shows the mysterious storybook to the librarian, "I have this book and I was wondering, would you take a look at it?"

"But of course," the librarian replies.

The detective boy then gives the book to the librarian woman. "Now what book are we talking about?" The librarian immediately looks at the mysterious book.

In about a couple of minutes, the woman reaches a conclusion. "I'm... I'm sorry, I've never seen this kind of book before. I never even heard of such story title like this before," the librarian explains to the trio.

"Wait, don't tell me this is one of those damn dirty love novels that suddenly become popular in the Novus Continent!" The librarian suddenly starts to rant while holding the book with her right hand.

The group is surprised.

"W-Wait! It's not-" Kyuu is suddenly interrupted.

"And the worst of them all has to be that... Disturbing necrophilia love story! I mean, my gawd, it's really disgusting! What kind of a girl who find a guy who's clearly dead thousands of years ago attractive?! That's just... STUPID!" the librarian rants in an angered tone.

The librarian's ranting voice is quite that it echoes throughout the lone library. Thankfully, no one is around reading some books.

"Stories like that give books and libraries a bad name! I refuse to have those filthy books here in-"

"Wait, it's not!" Dark Magician Girl shouts to stop the librarian's rant.

"Look, my friend just wanna ask if you know something about this book? Or a book that can write down itself, something like a diary."

Thanks to Dark Magician Girl's intervention, it snaps the librarian back to reality. Realizing that she has been ranting so-called 'romance' novel, she quickly bows her head. "I-I'm really sorry about it, I couldn't control my temper," she said apologetically.

"Anyway," the librarian rises her head, "I'm afraid I don't know anything about that kind of book."

The group is dismayed about the news. _Another dead end_, Kyuu thought.

"But I do know a good place where you might want to go," the librarian suddenly said, gaining the trio's attention.

"There's a huge library at the Kandur Region, which is owned by mages. The books there are usually about magic. You should visit there, I'm sure someone there might know something about that book of yours," the librarian said to the group.

"Kandur... Region?" Kyuu utters the name.

Dark Magician Girl suddenly grabs and drags Kyuu to a nearby table. Kinta quickly follows.

"Wait here," The young magician then runs toward a certain bookshelf, grabs a book, and returns to the table in less than three seconds. That was fast, wasn't it?

Putting the book on the table, the boys see that the book has the title 'Atlas' on it. Dark Magician Girl then flips a few pages until she reaches a page with three separate continents on it. There's one continent in the west and it's the smallest of the three. The middle has a bigger continent and it's the biggest among them. Lastly, the eastern continent is between in terms of size. The continent names are _Relicum_, _Novus_, and _Phantasma_ respectively.

"Now time for a little geography lesson," Dark Magician Girl said in a manner that most teachers usually do. Kinta's only reaction – accompanied by a confused look written all over his face, is simply uttering the word, "Huh?" As for Kyuu, he throws his fist up high while cheerfully yelling, "Yay!" That's something most hyperactive children do whenever they're going to learn something new.

"We're now here, in this continent, boys," Dark Magician Girl points at the eastern continent, Phantasma. "It's not that big but it's not small either. The continent has about 6 regions." The magician points at the labels that represent the regions while calling out the names.

The southernmost region is the _Cyril Region_, the place where our protagonists are located right now. There are two more regions north of Cyril though they're separated by a border. To the left, it is the _Da'Fur Region_. To the right, it is the _Terrador Region_. There's a very small region located in the northeast of Terrador; that is the _Kandur Region_, their destination. To the north of Da'Fur is the biggest region of the continent, the _Veryl Region_. Lastly, to the north of Veryl is the _Ludja Region_.

The boys' eyes are closely fixed on the small region, Kandur. "So... We have to go from here to here and then here," Kyuu places his index finger on the Cyril Region and then moves toward the Terrador Region until it reaches the Kandur Region.

"Correct!" Dark Magician Girl proudly said.

"So what if we don't have any leads on the book at all in this region? It's not really a total lost. We just need to keep moving forward. If we go to Kandur Region after our assignment, we may find our lead. Just don't give up too soon."

Kyuu does find the beautiful magician's words encouraging and lifting his spirit.

"Thanks, DMG..." Kyuu utters in a spirited tone.

"But... You do realize we're still stuck here in Cyril Region, right?" Kyuu asks with his eyes closed and a smile.

…

"Oh crap, I forgot," Dark Magician Girl slaps across her forehead, feeling embarrassed.

Remembering the current situation they're in now and the fact they're still stuck in the region, the trio sighs out of disappointment as they drop their heads onto the table.

Just how are they going to get rid of the plague? They have no idea what's causing the plague in the first place.

Suddenly, Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl receive a transmission from their earpiece communicators.

"_Guys, Kanata here. Do you read me?_"

"Yeah, we hear ya," Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl said together.

Kinta glances at them. He's a bit surprised to see them as he thinks that they're talking to themselves. However, thanks to his unusually high senses (including his sense of hearing), he can hear the voices coming out of their ears.

"Wait, you guys have communicators in your ears?" Kinta asks.

The two nods as an answer.

Soon, the others call out through the ear piece communicators as well.

**Street**

Kanata returns to the southern district after he makes his final trip to the eastern bridge.

"I just finished my round, guys. All the bridges are heavily guarded. Even the Red Tiger division's in town."

"_Red Tiger division? You mean those guys with swords and lance?_" Sakura asks via the communicator.

"_And one of the toughest units of The Knights,_" Kanon adds.

"It appears so. The Boron Bandits are going to have a lot of trouble getting into town with the Red Tiger division around," Kanata said.

"What about your end, Sakura? Kanon?"

"_Oh, wait 'til you hear this!_" Sakura said excitedly.

"_We talked to the locals about the lake. They say that the lake isn't that deep at all. It's almost impossible for anyone to swim around the lake without those patrol boats noticing them,_" Sakura explains.

"_So scuba diving isn't gonna cut off, huh?_" Dark Magician Girl said through the communication.

"_But there's more. I overheard some fishermen talking about some underground tunnels_," Kanon adds.

"Underground tunnels?"  
"_Yeah, that's what I've heard._"

"_Noel, Nina, and I have already checked the Water Chamber's basement floors. We've learned about their security system and defense mechanism. They're pretty solid, in my honest opinion,_" Kite explains.

"_But... Are you really sure about the tunnel?_" Kite asks.

"_Yes, I'm sure of it. I suggest you, Noel, and Nina take another look at the chamber,_" Kanon said.

Everyone suddenly becomes silent as the thought of the underground tunnels sink into their minds. In a few moments, they begin to have a very good idea of the tunnels' use for the bandits.

"_Okay, we should regroup at the Water Chamber. We'll discuss our next movement in person. Everyone, return to there immediately,_" Kyuu said to everyone with their own ear piece communicators. Everyone agrees with the plan.

"_By the way, guys... If you happen to stumble across some of the Knights, ask them about the 'Sun Dawn' password, it'll help you distinguish between the real Knights and the fake ones,_" Kite suddenly said.

As soon as the communication is off, Kanata finally returns to the place with the street sellers.

"What was that about?" Kanata wonders about the thing Kite has just said in the communication.

The Twilight Brigade member finds Donald and Daffy lying on the ground, being comically beaten with fishes slapped on their faces. Standing victoriously in front of the ducks is the fishmonger.

"That'll teach you for insulting my fishes! Now you make me waste my time!" the fishmonger shouts as he goes back to his place.

"Well, you guys certainly have fun," Kanata said as he approaches the ducks on the ground. "Oh shut up..." Daffy utters painfully.

_Meanwhile..._

* * *

In an unknown location...

The patient from the Greydon Institution is in a dark room, sitting on a comfy chair. He is not alone though. Someone else is in the room. The obese shadowy figure is standing right in front of the patient. Only a lightbulb, hanging above the patient between the patient and the mysterious figure, is able to shine the room a bit.

While the patient's face is covered by the mask but his eyes, you can't tell if the patient is scared or not. For the obese figure, he's rather normal.

"So you're telling me that you've been under therapy and medical attention for six months, ever since that 'accident?' And they still haven't found a cure for you yet?" the figure asks in a sneaky tone. The patient in the hazard suit nods in response.

"Bwahahaha! Wow, that's really bad!" the obese figure laughs.

"Why are you laughing?!" the patient immediately stands up, speaking in an angered tone. "It's not even funny, dammit!"

"This suit... It's not just for show," the patient said while staring at his arms now covered in his suit. "It's to protect everyone around me, even myself."

"Because of what I have become... I can't eat normal food, I can't even drink, I can't touch anyone..." the patient sits down, feeling depressed.

"I never ask for any of this. I had plans before this happened. Go back to college, meet people, have a life..."

"I... I needed a cure. The doctors said that this is a 'gift,' but it's not. It's a disease. I need... I need some way to cure me of this disease," the patient said in a saddened tone. He lowers his head as he places his hands on his forehead. He is shaking uncontrollably as if he's about to cry.

Instead of sympathizing the patient, the obese, shadow figure chuckles. "So you're blamin' your 'gift' that you can't have those anymore, eh? Well, what a shame. Waste o' talent if I hafta say it," the figure shrugs.

"What do you mean by that?!" the patient suddenly stands up.

"You think this is a 'gift' too?! It's NOT! LOOK!" the patient's arms are suddenly emitting electricity. He aims his right hand at the lightbulb on the ceiling and unleashes a stream of electricity. The result? It overloads the lightbulb, causing it to implode.

It doesn't end there, though. The mask suddenly comes off automatically to reveal his face. The patient's face isn't humane at all; his face has transformed into an electrical field. Only his eyes and mouth are visible.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down there, sparky," the obese figure, not threatened by the patient at all, gestures his hands downward prompting the Greydon patient to calm down. The patient then stops his rant as his mask suddenly turns on again, covering his electrical face.

"Listen up here, kid. I'm tellin' ya that ya got powers that not everyone can have. And what're ya gonna do? Crawl back to the institution and whinin' all day?" the figure asks.

…

The patient shakes his head sideways.

"I just want my life back," the patient utters.

"Oh, don't worry about that! I happen to have the solution," the figure said, which catches the patient's attention.

"You see, I'm workin' for some folks. A very special type of folks, if you ask me," the figure grins.

"Let's say they're very interested with your 'gift' and they find it useful. They want to put your skills to good use. If you agree to work us, well through me, we will reward you. And who knows, if you do some really good jobs, they'll be more than happy enough to give you what you really want."

"What? A-A cure?" the patient quickly stands up in surprise.

"Oho, not just that. Your lost 'life,'" the figure chuckles.

"So whaddya say?" The shadowy figure immediately approaches the patient and raises his hand at the latter. "Deal?"

…

The patient shakes hands with the figure.

"Deal."

"So what do I need to do first?"

"It's simple," the figure said as he gives the patient a friendly slap on the shoulder, "I want you to cause a little havoc at this big town to attract them Knights from other towns. Think ya can do it, sparky?"

"Or should I call you Max instead?"

"No... Don't call me that. Without a cure, I'm not..."

* * *

**BlueLake Town**

Night has arrived.

While other towns have become very quiet, the lake town isn't; to a certain degree.

Some people are still awake and they want to hang out around town at night. Of course, the guards are still many in numbers and more active as they are during the day. They patrol throughout the town.

The Twilight Brigade, Kinta, Donald, and Daffy are also still on duty only with a few different tasks.

The groups remains the same.

Kanata, Donald, and Daffy are stationed outside the Water Chamber, watching over the building from a rooftop of a nearby house. It's quite large, in fact. The three of them has their own binoculars to monitor the streets and the building.

Kanon and Sakura are inside the building, mostly patrolling around the surface floors.

Kite, Noel, and Nina are patrolling the basement floors, mostly the third basement floor.

Finally, Kyuu, Dark Magician Girl, and Kinta are in the Water Orb's room.

If the rumors of the underground tunnel are true, there's no doubt that the bandits might be using that to get into the basement floors, mostly to get to the B3 corridor to avoid the security system.

The .hack protagonist's group just hopes that they can prevent anyone from taking away the Water Orb since they're guarding the third basement floor.

So far, many hours have passed and nothing bad happens. It's all quiet and peaceful.

Of course, the group remains in their positions.

**Water Chamber**

Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl are standing in front of the Water Orb while Kinta is in the front. Accompanying the group is the tour guide mage.

It's already been hours and it's nearing 11 o'clock.

Kinta yawns.

"Damn, how long are we gonna stay like this?" The muscle-bound man groans.

"I dunno, maybe until dawn?" Dark Magician Girl answers much to Kinta's dismay thanks to the answer.

"Umm... You three," the worker calls out the group, "Are you sure that the bandits are going to crash in? Through some underground tunnels?"

"Well, it's just our theory, that's all. Even so, we still have to be prepared," Kyuu said to the worker, to which she understands the detective boy's intention.

As time passes by a little more, the group suddenly hear a growling noise. They soon turn their attention to the worker as they hear the growling noise again. It's coming from her.

The worker slowly blushes.

"Hehe, sorry! I haven't had my dinner," the mage girl chuckles nervously while rubbing both her stomach and the back of her head.

"If you're hungry, why don't you go and have something to eat?" Kyuu suggests.

"Eh? But..."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Kinta suddenly intervenes as he approaches the employee much to his friends' surprise. "I'll just escort you outside. With what's going on, it's not gonna be safe to alone."

"What about your friends?" the worker asks out of concern.

"Ah, don't worry about them," Kinta turns his attention to Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl, "You don't mind staying here for a while, right?"

The worker glances at the pair.

Unbeknown to the worker, Kinta has an extremely worried look on his face whilst looking at Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl. The detective boy immediately deduces his friend's intention.

As a friend, Kyuu decides to let Kinta have his time. "Sure, go on," he said it with a smile much to Dark Magician Girl's surprise. Now that makes Kinta feel glad as he gives the detective boy a thumbs-up without the mage's attention.

"If you say so. Don't worry, I won't be long. I'll be sure to bring some food for you two," the mage girl said with a smile.

The mage and Kinta approach the sealed door. The former then opens the door thanks to her bracelet.

"So what's your name?"  
"Oh, my name is Carley Venloquin. What about you?

She and the muscular man leaves the room as they continue their friendly conversation.

Now Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl are alone.

"Kyuu, why you-"  
"I figured out Kinta's plan. He wants to try his luck with her."  
"Really?"

"Yeah, I... I think he deserves it," Kyuu confesses.

In reality, Kinta has tried his luck with a few girls in the real world. Unfortunately, being a student of a detective school isn't easy. The girls that he try his luck with are always involve in the cases. Some of them usually aren't interested with him much to his dismay and some are usually revealed as the culprits.

Despite that, Kinta remains strong and true to himself. He moves on with his life and his duty as a student of the detective academy.

Kyuu feels sorry for his friend, so he thought it was a good chance for Kinta.

However, Dark Magician Girl thinks otherwise in a different angle. She thinks that Kinta is just doing it probably because he wants to have her and Kyuu to be alone. It is something she passes off as a very good thing.

The young magician slowly blushes while quietly thank Kinta for it.

"DMG? What's wrong?" Kyuu asks when he notices her blushing.

"N-Nothing!" Dark Magician Girl nervously yelps with her hands behind her back.

They both remain in their positions, guarding the Water Orb. It's already almost fifteen minutes and it starts become awkward for the pair, especially the cold silence.

Eventually, Dark Magician Girl speaks up.

"How are you holding up, Kyuu?" she asks shyly.

"Fine, I guess. I'm just a little bored, that's all," Kyuu answers.

Another moment of quietness ensues...

…

"Oh, I got it!" Dark Magician Girl suddenly yells as she claps her hands excitedly. Her sudden reaction causes Kyuu to jump.

The young magician immediately looks at the detective boy as she picks up a large pair of card decks from her pocket. The cards appear to be something out of a trading card game; it has its own unique 'hero' cards and spell cards.

"Let's play this to kill some time," Dark Magician Girl said to Kyuu.

"Eh?"

"C'mon, don't worry about it. It's just for a while."

"Well... Okay, why not?"

Both Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl sit on the ground as the latter gives the former one of the decks. Kyuu's deck consists of mostly warriors and trap masters while Dark Magician Girl's consists of mages and spells.

The blonde-haired magician then explains the game's rule briefly before they start the game. At first, the detective boy has trouble understanding the card game even its basics, which causes him to lose to several times. Fortunately, the boy understands the game slowly so he gets to play better although he still loses to her.

While not much of a trading card fan, Kyuu does find the card game to be fun. As the game continues, the pair is having fun while enjoying each other's company.

"I'd never knew you're into this kind of game," Kyuu compliments Dark Magician Girl with a smile.

"Hey, this isn't just for children, Kyuu! Even adults and teens are also playing this game!" Dark Magician Girl laughs.

The pair chuckles laughs together afterwards.

"Say, is it your first time playing a game like this?" Dark Magician Girl asks. Her question actually confuses Kyuu.

"What... What are you saying?"

"Well, after hearing all about your 'detective' life, I thought you'd never do anything else other than detective works," the magician girl confesses.

"Oh, it's not always like that, DMG. I do other things in my free time. Well, other than watching detective shows and books," Kyuu said to her.

"Really?" Dark Magician Girl utters whilst raising her right eyebrow. She's not convinced with the detective boy as he claims to be. "Then what do you do in your free time?"

"Let's see... I used to play soccer and I like to go fishing with Kinta... Oh, I used to go hiking too."

"You did all those?" Dark Magician Girl, being slightly surprised by the boy's other (and normal) activities. Kyuu smiles while nodding.

Now it is Kyuu's turn to ask.  
"What about you? What do you usually do in your free time?"

"Well, I actually like a lot of things. Such as this game," the magician said as she lifts two cards that are discarded from the game; one has a portrait of a wand and the other a portrait of a woman in silver robe.

"My other things? I do enjoy music, especially orchestra. I also like read books, watch films of any kind... Well, that's about it," Dark Magician Girl tells Kyuu of her favorite things.

"For things I don't like?" the blonde-haired girl suddenly speaks again, "That'll be sports."

"Eh? You don't like sports?"  
"Yeah. I'm not a huge of sport fans. I don't like it if I get too sweaty, it usually made me feel dizzy and sick."

"I mean, why do people find it engaging to see a bunch of Neanderthals running around and kicking a ball to a goal?" Dark Magician Girl wonders.

Kyuu becomes silent as he stares at the young magician.

"You do realize that you're talking about soccer, don't you?" the detective boy drops a single sweat from the back of his head.

"N-No, I didn't mean you're one!" the blonde-haired magician quickly shouts to clear up the misunderstanding. "I mean by people who do nothing but doing sports every single time in their lives."

Kyuu pauses for a short period of time before he speaks up.

"I'm guessing you never try it out with friends. In fact, you never try it out yourself."

"Say what?"  
"From what you just said, it tells that you didn't even try it out yourself, you just assume it so. Perhaps you've never try it out with friends. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm saying you should just give it a try."

Dark Magician Girl stares at Kyuu for a very few moments until she begins to chuckle.

"I know we're friends, but don't try to convince me to play some sports," she winks.

"Oh, we'll see," the boy grins.

Kyuu suddenly sets his move by placing a 'spell' card with the portrait of a golden sword next to a 'hero' card. "Checkmate," he said with a grin.

"W-What? I-I lose?" Dark Magician Girl yelps as she leans closer to the ground. She looks at the boy's cards and, to her surprise, discovers that he truly corners her cards. The blonde-haired girl glances at the boy with a confused look on her face.

"H-How did you..."  
"You could say I adapt into it."

"Really? I call that beginner's luck!" Dark Magician Girl leans closer to Kyuu in an overconfident manner.

"Rematch?" Kyuu grins.

"You're on!"

Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl shuffle their respective decks and they have another match.

As time flows by, their relationship grows stronger through their interactions with one another.

However, at the same time...

-/-

Back outside the Water Chamber, we return to Kanata's group at the rooftop.

"Anything yet?" Daffy asks.

The black duck is sitting on the ground while eating a pizza slice. Lying next to the duck is the pizza box containing the rest of the said food. Kanata and Donald, on the other hand, continue to monitor the Water Chamber.

"Hey! How come you get to relax while we do all the work?!" Donald yells.

"Well, that's simple, Donald old pal. I'm the best fighter 'round this group so I'm resting my energy," Daffy answers.

"Really? The best?" Kanata asks.

"Of course! I've been through many adventures a lot longer than you kids! You don't believe me?!" Daffy retorts while pointing his half-eaten pizza slice at the UFO Baby boy.

"Oh, I believe you, Daf," Kanata said while monitoring the chamber, "You did well with our last assignment. I got nothing to complain."

That's something Daffy doesn't expect, an actual compliment and not an insult.

Suddenly, Kanata notices someone roaming around the street and into an alley near the Water Chamber. Although the figure moves rather quick, Kanata catches a glimpse of a man in armor.

"Wait... Don't tell me..." Kanata turns his attention to the ducks, "Donald, Daffy! I need you two to stay here!"

"What?" Both ducks utter at the same time.

"I think I see someone heading into the alley over there," Kanata explains while pointing at the said alley to the west, "I'll be back as soon as I can."

The brown-haired boy then runs toward a ladder nearby and descends to the ground. Once at ground, he immediately runs toward the direction of the armored figure, leading to the said alley.

Hiding behind the wall, Kanata peeks to the alley. He discovers the identity of the shadowy figure... A guard.

Kanata notices that the 'guard' is holding a flare gun, aiming up in the night sky. _What is he doing_, Kanata thought. Unbeknown to the Twilight Brigade member, the 'guard' grins before pulling the gun's trigger.

The flare is deployed from the gun and soars into the night sky. Anyone in and out of town can notice the red light above.

* * *

Just outside the town, a small group of men in ragged clothes is hiding in some bushes just across the hills.

They all see the flare in the black sky, just above the BlueLake Town.

"The signal!"  
"Well, it's time."

The men smile.

It turns out that the group isn't alone... In fact, there are actually much more of them just behind them...

* * *

The flare alerts most of the guards around town.

As the flare fades from the sky, the 'guard' decides to run away from the alley.

However, after turning around, the 'guard' finds Kanata standing right in front of him much to his surprise.

"What the-" the 'guard' attempts to pull out his sword from his scabbard attached on his belt, Kanata unsheathes his katana and has already pointed directly at the guard's neck. That alone prompts the man to surrender quietly.

"Spill it. What did you do just now?" Kanata interrogates the 'guard.'

"Heh. Isn't it obvious, kid? I just set off a flare," the 'guard' chuckles.

"Be more specific."  
"You wanna know? It has started."

"Started?" Kanata widens his eyebrows, disturbed by the guard's words.

"You can't stop it... The plan is in motion," the 'guard' said again.

Just by hearing those words, Kanata immediately deduces that the guard's real identity, confirming the rumors as true. Not to mention, the meaning behind those words...

* * *

In the northern bridge, the guards stand in front of the north gate.

"Hey, what's that?"

The guards soon notice something in the hills just beyond the bridge. In reality, it's a huge group of men armed with clubs and swords; it's almost an army.

Similar thing is happening simultaneously at the southern and eastern bridges as more of those men also appear.

The guards' captain uses a telescope to get a better view of the mysterious group. To the captain's surprise, he recognizes the group... As the Boron Bandits.

"Men!" The captain turns his attention to his unit, "Warn everyone! The bandits are attacking!"

"S-Sir!"

Some of the guards quickly run back into town.

At the same time, both groups are moving in toward the town.

* * *

Returning to the rooftop with our favorite ducks, Donald continues to watch over the Water Chamber while Daffy continues to eat his pizza.

"Huh? Did you hear that?" Daffy suddenly asks when he hears something. It appears to be people shouting.

"Y-Yeah, I hear that too," Donald said as his pal quickly stands up.

The noise is coming from the right. The ducks immediately approach the right side of the rooftop. They both look down and they find a pair of guards running around yelling terrible news.

"The Boron Bandits are attacking! They're coming from the north!"

"T-THE BANDITS?!" both ducks shout in surprise.

However, they also hear another pair of guards screaming from the other side. Their scream is much louder so the ducks can hear the.

"The Boron Bandits are coming! They're going to attack the south!"  
"The Boron Bandits are here! They're coming from the east!"

_Oh snap_, both the ducks thought as they look at each other.

"THEY'RE ATTACKING AT THE SAME TIME?!"

"T-This bad!" Daffy yelps while biting his own fingers nervously, "Really bad!?"

"Hey, calm down!" Donald grabs Daffy by his shoulders, "We don't know how many of 'em! Maybe they're just in small groups!"

From that moment, one of the guards in the ground yell, "WE'RE IN TROUBLE! THERE'S A LOT OF 'EM! HUNDREDS, EVEN!"

Now that silences the white duck followed by a more nervous look on his face; even more than Daffy's.

"Okay... We're in trouble," Donald utters.

-/-

Kanata runs out of the alley.

The brown-haired boy has just knocked the guard out. He also has bounded both the guard's arms and legs, leaving the guard to the real authorities.

Kanata tries to communicate with the others, but surprisingly, his ear piece communicator doesn't work. He can only hear static noise.

"_Dammit! I better warn the others quickly!_" Kanata turns and runs even faster throughout the street as he's halfway toward the Water Chamber.

Unfortunately, five guards emerge out of hiding and block the brigade member's path. The brown-haired boy quickly stops in his trail. "Stop there, kid? Where are you going at this hour? Don't you know it's really late?" one of the guards ask.

Without any time to waste, Kanata said the words he heard from Kite earlier.

"What's the 'Sun Dawn' password?"

…

"What?" the guards suddenly ask.

From that very moment, Kanata immediately unsheathes his katana and poses his offensive stance. "I knew it, the rumors are true," Kanata grits his teeth, confirming his suspicions that the guards standing in front of him are actually the Boron Bandits in disguised.

"Ah crap! We're discovered!" the so-called guards quickly withdraw their swords, preparing to attack. "We can't let this kid live! Kill 'im quick!"

The bandits in disguise quickly charge at Kanata.

-/-

Inside the Water Orb's room, Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl have just finished their latest match.

As soon as they're done, Dark Magician Girl suddenly stops as she senses the sudden change in the atmosphere.

"What's wrong?" Kyuu asks.

…

"Something's wrong," Dark Magician Girl immediately answers as she quickly stands up, prompting Kyuu to stand up as well.

At the same time, Kite's and Kanon's groups also sense similar disturbance...

-/-

In the second basement floor, a pair of guards are patrolling across an empty hallway.

Suddenly, an unusual sound is heard ticking on the wall behind them. The guards turn their attention to the said wall and approach it. Strangely, they don't do anything about it, they simply stare at the wall...

* * *

The Boron Bandits are closing in from the north, south, and east...

Meanwhile, at the east, a familiar face is slowly approaching the town's western bridge.

Who is it, you may ask?

He is none other than the runaway patient from Greydon Institution.

"Fine..." the man utters as his mask comes off again, showing his electrical face. "It's time to have a little fun..."

The man in the hazard suit walks slowly toward the western bridge...

_**To be continued...**_

**-XX-**

**A/N:**  
That's the end of the chapter. The Boron Bandits have finally attacked and looks like some of them have managed to disguise themselves as The Knights to infiltrate the town.

It also appears that the bandits have a plan to steal the Water Orb.

To make it worse, the 'patient' whom we've seen from the previous chapter (the first part of the Fallen Angel chapter) is now approaching the town while it's under attacked by the Boron Bandits. And he's no ordinary patient.

The next chapter will have a big battle royale! Will the Twilight Brigade survive? Tune in the next chapter, **Elusive Reunion**!

P.S. A little challenge: can you guess the canon characters that make their cameo in this chapter?

See you then!


End file.
